The Council on Recovery
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 741173235
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Houston, TX, USA
- Phone
- 8559424100
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Alcohol, Drug and Substance Abuse, Dependency Prevention and Treatment
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,413,094
- Expenses
- $7,946,075
- Assets
- $2,598,583
- Liabilities
- $912,326
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
35 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Mary Beck (President & CEO to 3/19/25)
- Judy Chavez (President & CEO from 3/20/25)
- Mel Taylor (President Emeritus)
Highest reported compensation
- Mary Beck (President & CEO to 3/19/25): $292,476 total reported compensation
- Monica Brown-Broussard (VP to 7/22/2025): $191,621 total reported compensation
- Judy Chavez (President & CEO from 3/20/25): $181,529 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Council is to lead the community in creating a path to freedom from substance abuse and related issues.
What it reported doing in 2024
See Schedule O
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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 65.7%; rating input score 66
- Program expense ratio: 69.4%; rating input score 69
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.6%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 65.7% of revenue deployed · 69.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $292K · 35 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $162K reported
- Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.