United Way for Greater Austin

What it reported doing in 2024

Educationsuccess in life begins with a quality education. That's why united way ensures children get a strong start in life and are ready to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. Ninety percent of all brain development occurs in the first five years of a child's life. What happens in these early years has a lasting impact, from kindergarten readiness to third-grade reading scores to high school graduation and beyond.united way leads the success by 6 coalition, which brings together local nonprofits, policymakers, philanthropists, parents with lived experience, and community and business leaders to improve early childhood education in austin/travis county. The community coalition was launched in 2012. Since then, the success by 6 coalition has grown, strengthened, and continues to build upon its achievements. Progress toward the identified community goals, strategies, and performance targets in the success by 6 strategic plan are monitored throughout the year, and we publish data to share bright spots and identify ongoing challenges.community successes in the past year include: the passing of proposition a with the support of the coalition, which will increase county funding for early care and education; increase in the number of high-quality child care providers in austin/travis county; expansion of our home visiting and parent education partner programs like family connects, advances in the policy recommendations from the early childhood council working group at the city; and championing a bill that centralizes pre-k funding that expands early child education access for centers, teachers, and families.united way spearheads several programs and initiatives that move the needle for high-quality early care and education. Here are some examples: our pre-k partnerships and shared services alliance programs continued to serve centers with professional trainings, diapers, operational supports like payroll management and teacher badges, and more. We served more than 70 child care centers, 500 teachers, and 5,000 children through these programs.high- quality services for children. This program impacts more than 500 families annually.family connects Texas is a nurse home visiting program offered to every family with a newborn in travis county to give babies the best possible start in life. In partnership with austin public health, we provide families with a visit from a registered nurse, who provides a family assessment in the home, gives immediate maternal and family support in areas such as breastfeeding or safe sleep, and is able to provide referrals to community resources. In 2024-2025, family connects expanded to serve any family with a newborn, regardless of which county they live in, who are Texas residents and have given birth at partner hospitals. This program serves more than 1,000 families each year.lantern is a free texting service for caregivers of children ages prenatal-8, promoting child development and access to local programs and events. Information is provided in english or spanish. This service supports more than 4,000 caregivers annually.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 84.6%; rating input score 85
• Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
• Fundraising efficiency: $29.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 98.4%; rating input score 98; 30th 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • 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: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 10.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings