Small Steps Nurturing Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760471755
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7132360330
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Remedial Reading, Reading Encouragement

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,754,127
Expenses
$5,746,155
Assets
$13,630,709
Liabilities
$308,200

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Annette Mullins (President)
  • Jeremy Goebel (Vice President)
  • Barbara Allen (Executive Director (as of 7/24))
  • Ana M Schick (Executive Director (thru 8/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • Ana M Schick (Executive Director (thru 8/24)): $113,413 total reported compensation
  • Barbara Allen (Executive Director (as of 7/24)): $76,422 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Small Steps' mission is to provide an exemplary early childhood program to instill and foster the social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual growth of economically at-risk children and their families.

What it reported doing in 2024

The nurturing environment of Small Steps provides students with a strong academic program and attention to the needs of the whole child. During the 2024-2025 school year, Small Steps provided the following at no charge to 240 economically at-risk and inner-city children: highly qualified and committed teachers who inspire learning; small classes that allow relationships to be nurtured; academic environments that are enriching and encourage children's imaginations; an innovative social-emotional curriculum that fosters self-esteem and respect; meals that meet daily nutritional needs; staff-driven vans that provide dependable transportation to and from school; and an environment where each person is treated as a unique creation and deserving of God's grace.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th 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; 72nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.1%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.37; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.4% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 23 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $3.8M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.