Skills for Living Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201727180
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2014
Forms available
Form 990 2014
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7137829974
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$67,148
Expenses
$100,580
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

People named in this filing

  • LOU ALLEN (VICE CHAIRMAN)
  • STEVE BARTH (CHAIRMAN)
  • NORA BLUM (BOARD MEMEBER)

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

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Through collaborations with schools, government, business and non-profit organizations, s4l helps low and moderate income working families and at-risk economically disadvantaged high school and college students. We provide financial, career and college planning workshops to build family income and net worth and help students graduate from high school ready to enter and complete college.

What it reported doing in 2014

The game of real life is an award winning, comprehensive financial, career, and college planning course for at-risk and economically disadvantaged high school students, it culminates in a reality simulation game where students "age" from 19 to 26 in one hour intervals while working, paying bills, filing tax returns, buying homes, cars, insurance and making life decisions. This program is developed in collaboration with the university of houston and to date, all high school seniors graduating from the game have finished high school and 97.6% have entered college.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.

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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 40
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.1%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 35.2%; rating input score 35
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -49.8%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -134.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -28.9% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -44.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.1% of revenue deployed · 35.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $35K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2010 to 2014
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.