Good Reason Houston Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
820946654
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7139936226
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,468,326
Expenses
$10,418,913
Assets
$17,484,487
Liabilities
$963,894

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cary Wright (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ashley Cash (COO): $387,921 total reported compensation
  • Cary Wright (CEO): $376,687 total reported compensation
  • Faria Dhamani (CFO): $244,755 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Good Reason Houston strives to grow and sustain great schools while advocating for families and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Through Advising, Good Reason Houston helps districts implement best in class strategies for improvement. This includes working alongside district leaders to bring bold ideas to life - from strategic planning to day-to-day implementation. Advising services blend deep local context with national expertise to help school systems adopt proven strategies, increase coherence, and improve student outcomes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.68; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.9%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.1% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $388K · 26 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.