Literacy Connects
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237047508
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Tucson, AZ, USA
- Phone
- 5208828006
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Continuing Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,152,082
- Expenses
- $3,305,711
- Assets
- $4,492,776
- Liabilities
- $184,504
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- SHARON O'BRIEN (EXECUTIVE DI): $139,236 total reported compensation
- DANIEL SMALL (FINANCE/OPS): $76,042 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Connecting people of all ages to a world of opportunities through literacy and creative expression.
What it reported doing in 2024
Literacy connects' reading seed is an evidence-based program that helps kindergarten through 2nd graders advance their assessed literacy skills through once a week, one-to-one, coaching from trained volunteers for a minimum of 16 weeks. At each session, students select a free, high-quality book to build their home libraries. Reading seed operates three models: "referral" for students with highest need, the "loop" where students are matched with their coach for two consecutive years, and "cte" where high school students with career interests in early childhood education are trained as coaches. Data on the "loop" shows students with two years of reading seed are twice as likely as their non-reading seed counterparts to reach 3rd grade reading proficiency. This fiscal year, 279 volunteers worked with 867 students. 21,133 free books were distributed.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 82% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th 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: 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: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -4.9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.36; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 78% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $139K · 19 people listed
- Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.