The Humane Society of Austin & Travis County Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
746013665
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5126467387
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,989,144
Expenses
$5,274,657
Assets
$15,917,581
Liabilities
$497,005

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRANCES JONON (PRESIDENT, CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • FRANCES JONON (PRESIDENT, CEO): $218,635 total reported compensation
  • KATHY LYNCH (CFO): $175,037 total reported compensation
  • KATHRYN BROADDUS (CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER): $165,465 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 austin humane society (ahs) offers comprehensive, humane, life-saving animal services, transforming the lives of animals and those who love them. Because we believe homeless animals deserve a chance to thrive in a loving environment, we offer innovative, nationally recognized programs that save the lives of thousands of dogs and cats each year. Ahs' approach to addressing animal homelessness encompasses both finding animals homes through adoption as well as preventing future homelessness through spay/neuter programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

The ahs feral cat program provides free sterilizations and vaccinations for feral cats in travis county and surrounding counties in central Texas. The humane trap-neuter-return (tnr) method provides education on trapping feral cats and trap rental to volunteers. Spay/neuter surgery, rabies vaccinations, deworming, and ear tipping for any feral cats they trap are free of charge. After recovering from surgery, the feral cat is returned to its colony by the volunteer. The ahs tnr clinic was the first high volume spay/neuter clinic specifically for feral cats in central Texas. The primary goal of the program is to improve the lives of feral cats and reduce the homeless cat population. Since the program's inception in 2007, we have served over 88,000 cats, averaging at least 5,000 cats per year in the last five years. By sterilizing and vaccinating feral cats, we improve their health and reduce the spread of common feline diseases between feral and free-roaming cats and abate the exponential growth of the homeless cat population. Ahs launched a unique partnership with the austin animal center (aac) in 2011 to save the lives of stray cats that would previously have been euthanized. Modeled after the feral freedom program in jacksonville, Florida, qualifying stray cats surrendered at aac are transported to ahs, spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and ear tipped for identification and then returned by ahs staff back into their territories to live out their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% 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

SUPPORTED - 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.8%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 11.9%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.02; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.8% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $219K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $184K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.