Reading Opens Minds

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463640574
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2015–2016
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Studio City, CA, USA
Phone
7472455098
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Recreation& Sports N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$51,523
Expenses
$61,360
Assets
$7,405
Liabilities
$1,570

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Aaronson (Director, President)

People named in this filing

  • Lauren Lovett (Founder and executive Dire)
  • David Aaronson (Director, President)
  • Michael Paul (Director, treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to promote literacy in at-risk communities through book clubs, empowering individuals, building relationships and inspiring hope..Designed to reach those most in need, Reading Open Minds (ROM) book clubs encourage the shared experience of reading and discussion to nurture self-worth, foster empathy, encourage meaningful communication and increase sense of community. By providing new books and mentors we envision comprehensive literacy as a gateway to success and an opportunity to expand understanding, benefiting individuals and the greater good.

What it reported doing in 2016

Rom continues to strengthen our relationships with our middle and high school students, some of whom we have served for 4 and 5 years, and who remain dedicated and enthusiastic about the program. This year in addition to the book clubs, rom recorded and published the real word podcast in collaboration with la review of books, focusing on one of our high school book clubs at sun valley magnet high school. Eight episodes were recorded and produced and published on the la review of books website. The sun valley magnet high school kids were able to share the book club experience with over 2000 listeners. .we have launched our fifth year with the lgbt center of los angeles serving their senior citizens and we are in the midst of our fourth year with homeboy industries. Rom gives away an average of 100 - 150 new books per month to individuals in low-income and at risk communities. .rom trained and placed 15 new committed volunteers during this fiscal year, where the commitment is at least 8 months.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 63.2%; rating input score 63

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -19.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.7%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.7% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.8% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -71.3% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.3% of revenue deployed · 63.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $39K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2015 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.