Houston in Action Network

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873022489
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
8328199653
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,565,629
Expenses
$10,568,871
Assets
$9,798,403
Liabilities
$279,514

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Frances E Valdez (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Frances E Valdez (Executive Director): $248,515 total reported compensation
  • Christopher Valdez (Communications Director): $167,419 total reported compensation
  • Ana Mac Naught (Placed Base Program Director): $155,417 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See Schedule O

What it reported doing in 2024

Houston in Action (HiA) partners with local nonprofits to increase civic participation by training community leaders and participants. HiA issues grants in support of collaborative efforts including nonpartisan voter education and engagement, organizing toward a local shared and strategic vision to promote community leadership, and educating the public on community representation in the greater Houston area. HiA also supports emerging organizations in capacity-building and development through administration, communications, data and other needs identified by the organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 69% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -23.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 41.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -16.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $249K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $746K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 78 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 74 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.