The Sound of Hope
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 272807823
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2010
- Location
- Birmingham, AL, USA
- Phone
- 2562822533
- Rating
- 54
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Relief
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $41,370
- Expenses
- $38,124
- Assets
- $14,624
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Ericka Jackson (Board Member - Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Beth Sewell (Chairman of the Board)
- Lane Keeter (Board Member)
- Annah Grace Morgan (Board Member)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Form 990EZ , Part III - The Sound of Hope exists to raise funds and awareness for orphans and vulnerable children around the world. We are committed to helping children break out of the cycle of poverty by partnering with programs that offer holistic care. We seek to educate, engage, and empower others to join the movement in creative ways. We want to empower you to be a voice for the cause. We want your voice to be the sound of hope. Whoever you are, whatever you do - you have value. We believe you can make a difference; just as we believe every child in the world has value, and every child has the potential to change the world. It's why we exist - not just to rescue these desperate children out of poverty and disease, but to give them the hope and the future they deserve.
What it reported doing in 2025
Thailand is home to a multi-BILLION dollar sex-industry. One Thailand agency reports that 40% of sex-trafficking victims are children. In response to this tragic dilemma, The Sound of Hope bought and established a girl's home in Masariang, The Promised Land was purchased in 2011. After two years of renovations and preparations, our native Thai partners welcomed in 8 young girls in 2013. These children were rescued out of impoverished situations from the surrounding mountain villages. It's girls just like these who are at the greatest risk to be kidnapped and forced to work in the sex-industry. We currently have 5 girls living in the home. The Sound of Hope funding covers medical needs, school fees, and technology to assist with education. Over the last eleven years our organization has also invested in self-sustaining projects like fish ponds, frog ponds and livestock. These investments have helped to offset monthly food costs. Additionally during the time we have supported the home, some of our girls have moved on from high school to university. We had two girls in particular finish their nursing degrees and are now working in the medical field. We have seen many lives changed and for that we are very proud.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 36
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 35.5%; rating input score 35
- Program expense ratio: 38.5%; rating input score 39
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 7.8%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -25.7% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -21% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 35.5% of revenue deployed · 38.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $15K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III transfer expenses within program total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.