Texas Solar Energy Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
741962704
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5127511873
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$318,355
Expenses
$300,879
Assets
$221,058
Liabilities
$4,598

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Patrice Parsons (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Patrice Parsons (Executive Director): $95,461 total reported compensation
  • Stephen Ugalde (Program Manager): $31,250 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Promoting clean, safe, locally harvested solar energy for every Texan.

What it reported doing in 2024

A membership-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, TXSES's unique niche is exemplified in our well-established local chapters in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio. Having boots on the ground in these major metropolitan cities, which represent nearly a quarter of Texas's 29 million citizens, enables our gifted, dedicated experts to disseminate fact-based, relevant solar information. Activities include conduct outreach to low- to moderate-income communities to provide education on rooftop and community solar projects. Coordinate without state chapters in Austin, North Texas, Houston, El Paso, and San Antonio to educate more Texans about the benefits of solar energy. Enable pathways to jobs and opportunities for advancement in solar energy for women and students of color throughout the state. This includes high school, higher education, and community-level individuals. Educate rural electric cooperatives and small utilities about the benefits of distributed and community solar. Connect with low- to moderate-income and underserved populations so they can be solar consumers. Send out monthly newsletters about current and related news in the distributed and community solar space. Working with TXSES chapter cities, the Solar Energy Internship Program (SEIP) will facilitate pathways to jobs and opportunities for advancement in solar energy for women and students of color. SEIP will recruit solar energy companies to participate, develop a set of best practices for solar energy companies to improve diverse and inclusive recruitment and hiring processes, and engage in ongoing mentorship development.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.9%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 28.6%; rating input score 29; 39th 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: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 42.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.9% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $258K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 23 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Fund balance restriction sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.