Momentum Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844102530
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
3466385153
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,182,944
Expenses
$392,310
Assets
$1,962,504
Liabilities
$12,679

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Somir Paul (President)
  • Raj Salhotra (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Raj Salhotra (Executive Director): $70,669 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of Momentum Education is to provide academic, career, and financial support to help students from low-income families earn a post-secondary education and secure a job with a living wage.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Post-Secondary Program provides two key services to students: (1) Academic Advising wherein we have an Academic Advisor guide students through their classes, and (2) Career Support wherein we provide students career mentors to help them graduate and secure a job. Our programs resulted in an 85% graduation rate for post-secondary students, with 72% of alumni successfully reaching living wage attainment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 58% for direct work, and 42% for grants.

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: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 31.1%; rating input score 31
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 66.8%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 47.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 31.1% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $310K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.