Self-Help Enterprises

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941592676
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Visalia, CA, United States
Phone
(559) 651-1000
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$107,694,217
Expenses
$87,777,850
Assets
$226,655,514
Liabilities
$125,808,414

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS J COLLISHAW (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS J COLLISHAW (President & CEO): $296,537 total reported compensation
  • David Ebenezer (CFO): $199,228 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH MCGOVERN-GARCIA (PROGRAM DIR): $186,630 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Self-Help Enterprises is a nationally recognized community development organization whose mission is to work together with low-income families to build and sustain healthy homes and communities. Since 1965, Self-Help Enterprises’ efforts have touched the lives of over 65,000 families. Learn More. Self-Help Enterprises offers an exciting work environment where you can bring your high caliber skills to a true career opportunity and impact the world around you. Our team consists of dedicated individuals from a variety of professional and technical backgrounds: real estate brokers and agents, licensed contractors, financial and land development experts, management specialists, information technology, accounting and clerical all joined with a shared mission of working with families to build and sustain healthy homes and communities. We are an equal opportunity employer and offer an...

What it reported doing in 2024

Self-Help housing Assisted 115 families in completing the construction of their new homes. 79 other families were in the process of construction as of June 30, 2025.Home buyer Assistance Program 68 families received secondary mortgage financing to help them purchase homes.Rehabilitation 90 families received financing and assistance in the rehabilitation or reconstruction of their homes. Multifamily Housing 372 Rental Units Developed Guardian Village (48)Neighborhood Village (53)Northstar Apartments (72)River Grove I (70)Cherry Crossing (72)Santa Fe Commons II (57)On June 30, 2025, SHE owned and operated 3,014 units of rental housing in 55 affordable housing communities. Community Development: 1,846 water/sewer connections in small rural communitiesHomeownership Education and Counseling: 713 low-income households received individual and/or classroom homeownership training to prepare them for home ownership. Emergency Services: For FY 25, Emergency ServicesInstalled Emergency Tanks or delivered hauled water to 88 households.Completed new construction or repairs on 288 new wells.Tested 278 domestic wells for contamination.Installed 128 filtration devices to mitigate contamination in systems.Delivered drinking water to around 534 households.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • 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 filed totals do not add up and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6,818.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.5%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.58; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 80.1% of revenue deployed · 95.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $84.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $297K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $11.4M reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 21 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 38 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.