Lifeline of Galveston County
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 852907875
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- Webster, TX, USA
- Phone
- 4097976033
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $396,066
- Expenses
- $407,033
- Assets
- $8,759
- Liabilities
- $10,843
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
1 person listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Caroline McKenna (Executive Director & Board President)
Highest reported compensation
- Caroline McKenna (Executive Director & Board President): $32,664 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We envision a future where our municipal animal shelters do not have to euthanize pets due to a lack of kennel space & our community members have access to resources needed to keep their pets healthy, happy and home.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, we focused on reducing shelter in-take by helping pets stay healthy and safe in their homes. We hosted four free or low-cost vaccine and microchip clinics across Galveston County and offered free vaccination service hours at our adoption center, providing services to 319 pets from under-resourced households. In one impactful outreach initiative, we organized a community cat spay/neuter day on the Bolivar Peninsula, an area with no local veterinary care. Partnering with a mobile clinic, we provided spay/neuter and vaccines to 63 community cats in a single day, improving animal welfare and preventing future litters. In December 2024 we distributed 30 pallets of pet food and supplies donated by Chewy to Galveston County pet owners and maintained a pet food bank at our facility throughout the year. These outreach efforts helped ensure that struggling pet owners could access the care and resources they needed, keeping pets with their families and out of the shelter system.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 75% 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.
- 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and assets have declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 93
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 77
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 95%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 92.5%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $100.92 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th 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: Pass
- 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: -2.8%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.02; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.24; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 65.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -23.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 95% of revenue deployed · 92.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $373K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $33K · 1 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.