Next Steps the Colony

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842769256
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2019
Location
The Colony, TX, USA
Phone
2146361207
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$217,416
Expenses
$242,961
Assets
$58,130
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Scott Klein (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Pamela K De Santiago (Administrator): $75,371 total reported compensation
  • Jason Kelley (Case Manager): $73,060 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Empowering people with practical solutions to overcoming obstacles on their path to recovery. We achieve this mission via our values system that offers support through relationships, is person-centered, engages individuals and families to strengthen our community, is holistic and based on respect, and produces hope. We have developed a network of resources to help restore or alleviate need in most situations.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, Next Steps The Colony operated Shepherd's House as a transitional housing program serving vulnerable populations in The Colony and surrounding communities. The program adapted throughout the year to meet changing needs. From March through May, Shepherd's House served 4 women in recovery, providing a structured, supportive environment focused on sobriety, accountability, and personal growth. During this period, the program delivered 368 nights of safe housing. From June through December, the program transitioned to serving single mothers and their children, housing 4 women and 6 children. This phase provided an additional 2,140 nights of safe, stable housing, supporting families as they worked toward long-term independence. In total, Shepherd's House provided approximately 2,508 nights of housing in 2025. Residents were supported through life skills development, budgeting guidance, parenting support, and connections to community-based resources. The program emphasizes both stability and personal responsibility, with length of stay tailored to individual progress and engagement. Next Steps The Colony remains committed to adapting its housing model to best serve those in crisis while maintaining a safe, structured, and supportive environment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 85% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 97
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.9%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $57.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.7%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 61.1%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $240K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $75K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 27 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.