Houston SynchroStars

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822816273
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Sugar Land, TX, USA
Phone
8329473737
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Swimming & Other Water Recreation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$299,064
Expenses
$351,352
Assets
$32,741
Liabilities
$13,061

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tanuja Talim (Vice President)
  • YuanQing He (President)

People named in this filing

  • Tanuja Talim (Vice President)
  • Huy Hua (Treasuer)
  • YuanQing He (President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Public Charity. Synchronized Swimming. The organization provides the opportunity for swimmers to learn and participate in a program of competetive synchronized swimming and to apply a multitude of learned social and sports skills as they pursue their goals and compete.

What it reported doing in 2024

To assist & encourage young athletes from novice to elite in a nurturing, yet disciplined environment in which athletes can acquire the technical, physical, social, & mental skills required for the execution of synchronized swimming. Houston SynchroStars medaled at the 2023 US Junior Olympics (first Gold Medal in Club History), Junior & Senior US Nationals; achieved Club Excellence Level 2 (of only 2 clubs nationwide); Hosted Gulf Coast Association meets; participated in the PanAm Aquatics Artistic Swimming, Team USA World Championships in Greece. One Team Athlete qualified into the US Junior National Team. The club instills self-discipline, good sportsmanship, perseverance, endurance, self-confidence and teamwork which they can carry through to all aspects of their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.1%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $341K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.