Hope At Hand Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264333301
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Jacksonville, FL, USA
Phone
9048684681
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$410,200
Expenses
$414,838
Assets
$491,592
Liabilities
$69,226

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steffani Fletcher (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Steffani Fletcher (CEO): $48,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Using poetry, creativity, and elements of art, HopeAtHand.org facilitates transformative poetic experiences weekly for children, teens, adults, and seniors. We engage local and global communities to celebrate National Poetry Month with JaxPoetryFest.org and monthly virtual programming for adults through NorthFloridaPoetryHub.org.

What it reported doing in 2025

Hope at Hand's poetry programming delivers unique arts and cultural experiences for youth by providing enrichment and academic support, and public engagement and entertainment for adults and seniors. We offer two distinct poetry opportunities: (1) poetry lessons for children and teens through partnerships with youth-based agencies and schools, and (2) poetry lessons, festivals, and events for adults and seniors. Hope at Hand collaborates with community partners to provide weekly poetry lessons for youth, and offers adult events, workshops, performances and exhibits that actively involve our local and global communities.Founded in 2009 as a community outreach initiative, Hope at Hand expanded in 2015 by moving into a dedicated Poetry Center. This transition provided an opportunity to offer in-house programming for the outreach partners established over the previous six years. In 2025, Hope at Hand continues to operate as a direct service provider through a collaborative model, partnering with local organizations to connect directly with community members, ensuring that everyone is welcome in our programming.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $33.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.1%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.8% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $374K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $48K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.