Texas Advocacy Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 742237306
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Phone
- 5124765377
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,937,261
- Expenses
- $4,535,948
- Assets
- $3,288,964
- Liabilities
- $502,986
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
33 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Heather Bellino (Chief Executive Officer)
Highest reported compensation
- Heather Bellino (Chief Executive Officer): $202,149 total reported compensation
- Bronwyn Blake (Chief Legal Officer): $178,960 total reported compensation
- Denise Margo Moy (Chief Operating Officer): $178,471 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
See Schedule O
What it reported doing in 2024
Texas Advocacy Project's mission is to end dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse, and human trafficking in Texas. Texas Advocacy Project empowers survivors through free legal services and access to the justice system. Legal solutions include advice and counsel through legal lines and video conferences, protective orders, child custody modifications/enforcement/termination of parental rights of abusers, divorce from abusers, Title IX complaints, preventing financial abuse/coerced debt, direct representation, and trauma-informed trial preparation. TAPs social workers provide holistic, trauma-responsive care in collaboration with the legal staff. Our attorneys, staff, volunteers, and Board of Directors are committed to advancing our vision that all Texans live free from abuse.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.5%; rating input score 67
- Program expense ratio: 88.3%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $20.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
- 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 23.6%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 22%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 67.5% of revenue deployed · 88.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $202K · 33 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Fund balance restriction sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.