Lubbock Roots Historical Arts Council

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
751911641
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Lubbock, TX, USA
Phone
8065352475
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$185,200
Expenses
$129,859
Assets
$184,996
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

People named in this filing

  • SHIRLEY GREEN (DIRECTOR)
  • JAMES L WILLIAMS (CHAIRMAN)
  • VERNITA HOLMES (CO-CHAIRPERSON)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Lubbock Roots Historical Arts Council seeks to enrich the life and history of the African Americans of West Texas by promoting a greater understanding of the African American experience through the practice and appreciation of the visual and performing arts and through the study, interpretation and preservation of the history of the African American in the Early American West and West Texas. Roots is the owner of the Caviel Museum of African American History, Roots Community Revitalization Center and the Roots Booker T. Washington Community Garden. Roots is also the founder of the Caprock Jazz Festival; that is a major annual fundraiser to support the Caviel Museum and gives awards the Braxton music scholarship a selected talented youth.

What it reported doing in 2025

Caprock Jazz Festival Presented by the Roots Historical Arts Council, the Caprock Jazz Festival is a beloved Lubbock institution bringing outstanding jazz performances to the South Plains. In May 2025, the festival marked its 10th anniversary with a spectacular sold-out gala featuring dinner, live music, and local vendors at the Helen DeVitt Jones Auditorium, Museum of Texas Tech University. The evening began with an elegant reception accompanied by Bass Lady Joy Harris and Marco's Crew, followed by insightful remarks from local saxophonist Tom Braxton, bridging jazz's past with its present. Guests then enjoyed a specially curated three-course dinner before the main concert-each aspect reflecting the festival's commitment to cultural richness, community, and musical artistry. Founded by visionary community leaders including Greg Ricks and the Strong and McDonald families, the festival continues to honor Lubbock's jazz legacy while supporting the Roots Historical Arts Council's mission to champion African American heritage and the arts. While details for the 2026 festival are still forthcoming, anticipation already builds for another evening of unforgettable rhythms, community warmth, and soulful celebration. Stay tuned for updates and prepare to be part of the next chapter in Caprock's jazz story.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.4%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29.9%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.42; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -6.2% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53.4% of revenue deployed · 76.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $99K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.