Total Community Action

Legal name: Total Community Action Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
720599165
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New Orleans, LA, US
Phone
(504) 872-0334
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$35,095,830
Expenses
$35,454,635
Assets
$23,546,718
Liabilities
$9,554,349

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MR EDWIN MURRAY (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • THELMA FRENCH (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • THELMA FRENCH (PRESIDENT/CEO): $273,331 total reported compensation
  • GLENIS SCOTT (VP OF PROGRAMS): $154,456 total reported compensation
  • BRENT WASHINGTON (CFO): $137,122 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 Total Community Action is to reduce poverty in our community through collaboration with other agencies and by providing human services, experiences and opportunities that assist individuals with low-income to achieve economic security.

What it reported doing in 2024

Head start program provided comprehensive early child development for disadvantaged pre-school children and their families, since december 31, 2018. The program provided services to 785 infants, todlers and preschoolers aged (six weeks to five yeras-old) and their families. Tca also provided various community services to residents of orleans parish, including the weatherization and the community services block grant programs. The organization determined eligibility for 15,964 residents within orleans parish, providing them with access to 85 distinctive services and programs. Tca also provided utility assistance to disadvantaged families and the elderly. Tca distributed 16,759 food boxes to individuals/families with low incomes to mitigate food insecurity in our community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 95% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 94.1%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 95% of revenue deployed · 94.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $33.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $273K · 28 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.