Steps of Love
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 461557787
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2021
- Forms available
- Form 990 2021, Form 990-N 2014
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
- Phone
- 4804208141
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Homes for Children & Adolescents
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $260,136
- Expenses
- $259,204
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
People named in this filing
- Luis Ramirez (Chair of the Board of Directors)
- Jesus Campa (Vice Chair of the Board of Directors)
- Cynthia Connelly (Treasurer of the Board of Directors)
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 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Steps of Love is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization with a mission to provide young people in Mexico with a path out of poverty through education.
What it reported doing in 2021
Foundational Needs - Steps of Love assists AIM Peñasco in meeting the basic needs of the families and youth they serve. This allows students to remain physically and emotionally healthy and have a better chance to succeed in school and reach their full potential. Steps of Love provides financial support for families to receive food, safe drinking water, psychological services, and medical and dental services on an as needed basis. Additionally, Steps of Love helps cultivate volunteers to assist with home repairs, medical and dental care, clothing/food donations, and more. Typically, Steps of Love works with over 300 volunteers from groups in both the U.S. and Mexico including Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions Clubs, churches, universities, and other advocacy groups. In 2021, volunteer activity was severely limited due to the pandemic; however, a small number of volunteers were able to participate.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 93
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 24
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.5%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 93.8%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: $99.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -73.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 93.5% of revenue deployed · 93.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $243K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2019 to 2021
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.