The Next Step Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873076934
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5127710520
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Vocational Rehabilitation

Reported finances

Revenue
$497,343
Expenses
$496,350
Assets
$26,358
Liabilities
$244

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTOPHER HARRISON (EXECUTIVE CH): $75,890 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 next step foundation's mission is to address the barriers to employment and enable persons with disabilities, along with women and young adults, to acquire the skills they need to compete in the 4th industrial revolution, and take the next step towards sustainable livelihoods and economic independence. We accomplish our mission through our proprietory raatt method of delivering training. The raatt method, which stands for recruit, assess, accomodate, train, and transition, addresses the entire life cycle of our beneficiary's progress toward employment.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, we trained participants from marginalized communities on a variety of digital skills, entrepreneurship, and job-readiness trainings. We trained more than 100 participants, 37% of which identified as having a disability, on data annotation and aws cloud skills. We placed 33% of our participants in jobs following training. In kilifi county, kenya we trained 30 persons with disabilities in entrepreneurial skills, which enabled them to start their own businesses. We also provided disability inclusion training to approximately 1,500 employees from more than 20 employers to facilitate their inclusion of persons with disabilities in their workplace.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 45% for direct work, and 55% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Pass
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 60.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.7% of revenue deployed · 81.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $407K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.