The Parris Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264041884
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Houston, TX, US
Phone
(713) 534-1374
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,729,982
Expenses
$1,715,269
Assets
$302,539
Liabilities
$166,514

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Katherine Bacon (President/Chair/Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Alfred Bacon (VP/Vice-Chair/Dir. Edu & Outreach): $81,129 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 Parris Foundation provides counseling, outreach, and educational services for individuals, families, and communities with limited access to these resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educational Services Program - The Foundation provides educational support to first-generation, low-income, and under-represented populations. Post-secondary services include assistance in preparing for college entrance examinations, in completing college admission applications, and with financial aid applications. The Foundation offers guidance on and assistance with secondary school reentry, entry to General Education Development (GED) programs, and other alternative education programs for secondary school dropouts. Career exploration and job shadowing are offered when students are exposed to careers requiring a post-secondary degree. Credit Recovery alternative programs allow high school students to recover course credits from classes they have missed or failed. 1,280 students were served by these programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.5%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 0.9%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 11 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 93.5% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.