Memphis Challenge Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621400107
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Memphis, TN, USA
Phone
9016855455
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$375,484
Expenses
$360,362
Assets
$187,604
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JR HYDE III (PRESIDENT)
  • CASSANDRA WEBSTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CASSANDRA WEBSTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $131,905 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The goal of memphis challenge is to ensure the region's most talented minority students bring their education, expertise, and connections back to memphis.

What it reported doing in 2025

The jr. Memphis and memphis challenge program provides under represented high achieving students of color an opportunity to develop beyond. Memphis challenge offers monthly workshops for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students from county, charter, and private schools. Each workshop serves to build a foundation of success and layers the students with self confidence and motivation to succeed. Currently, there are more than 500 memphis challenge alumni who now serve the community as attorneys, educators, physicians, directors, executives, and entrepreneurs (55 persons benefited). The 9/10 movement prepares incoming freshmen and sophomores for the rigors of high school and the importance of academics. The 9/10 movement focuses on how to connect the dots of life, education, career, and aspirations. The 9/10 movement allows students to build relationships and feel comfortable outside their environments, exposing them to civic leaders and businesses around the region (more than 350 persons benefited).

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.3%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 71.2%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 4%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.52; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.3% of revenue deployed · 71.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $257K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $132K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.