Love Builds Hope Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843869087
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brownsville, TX, USA
Phone
9565414914
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,566,539
Expenses
$1,062,788
Assets
$680,500
Liabilities
$53,902

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • ISRAEL RAMON JR (CHAIRPERSON)
  • MICHAEL WILLIAMSON (MEMBER)
  • LORENA CASTILLO-SALDANA (MEMBER)

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

The purpose of the love builds hope foundation is to financially support the spiritual, educational, and social needs of the community through the procurement and building of funds for the preservation and promotion of pastoral and charitable work within the geographic area encompassed by the catholic diocese of brownsville.

What it reported doing in 2024

The initial work of the foundation involved strategic planning and preparation for a comprehensive diocesan campaign with a goal to raise $24 million to sustain and promote Catholic parishes, mission, schools, ministries, and agencies. A campaign team was developed and trained to animate the campaign. This represented new hires for the Love Builds Hope Foundation and contractually engaging staff from Greater Mission led by their president, Thomas Sonni. Digital and print campaign materials were designed and produced for the campaign. The campaign is positioned to have a transformational impact on the life of the Church at the parish, school, and diocesan levels, expanding and enhancing how one of the poorest regions in the nation is ministered and served. The investment in this effort was made by the Diocese of Brownsville through the Catholic Foundation of the Rio Grande Valley. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, churches were shut down and the campaigns designed to take place in every parish over a series of three to four waves was suspended. The Love Builds Hope Foundation pivoted to focus on raising lead gifts for the new priority of helping its parishes and schools to recover from a dramatic loss in their income, as well as meet the needs of people in the "coloniascommunities where they serve. The RGV Crisis Response Fund was established to conduct most solicitations through online group events via Zoom. That success has also helped position the Diocese of Brownsville for success in its parish lead gifts and full campaign efforts once they can be resumed.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 68% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 12
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 11.5%; rating input score 11
  • Program expense ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 17
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

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 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.2%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -17.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 11.5% of revenue deployed · 16.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $180K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 3 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 11/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.