Horse Tales Literacy Project Inc C/o Holland & Knight Llp

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
593654968
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2014
Forms available
Form 990 2014
Location
Orlando, FL, USA
Phone
4072441117
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Remedial Reading, Reading Encouragement

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$127,740
Expenses
$273,899
Assets
$110,085
Liabilities
$9,035

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK MILLER (PRESIDENT/DI)

Highest reported compensation

  • LINDA RUBIN (EXECUTIVE DI): $61,423 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization motivates children toward successful lives by helping them discover the joys of reading and the wonders of learning through the magic of books and the power of horses. The organization's goals are to provide a mandatory literacy component in a safe setting.

What it reported doing in 2014

The first grade program instills the love of reading in students by combining a live horse experience with walter farley's books, little black, a pony and little black goes to the circus. Trained staff and volunteers arrive at the school with horse in tow and meet with first grade classes. This is referred to as the "first connection". After a brief presentation on the importance of literacy, the students are invited to pet the horse. As soon as they have that opportunity, they are given a hardback book which is theirs to keep. In approximately 30-60 days, first graders experience a "second connection" where they learn and participate in activities regarding how to care for horses. Speakers demonstrate feeding, grooming, etc. The 4th and 5th grade program instruct the children on the impact horses have on society from a historical perspective. The 4th graders learn about how horses shaped america in the 1800's. The 5th graders learn about horses in the military; from the revelutionary war, civil war, world war i and word war ii to the korean war. Both grades later attend a show featuring our horses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 52.6%; rating input score 53
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -114.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.4%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -59.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -128.2% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -78.3% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 52.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $144K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $61K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2013 to 2014
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 53/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.