Volar

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
881175014
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Dallas, TX, USA
Phone
2145388336
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Reported finances

Revenue
$53,055
Expenses
$54,967
Assets
$36,085
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lucero Sondakh-Dorantes (President)
  • Elizabeth Aguin (Vice President)
  • Cynthia Gudiel (Executive Director & Primary Advisor)

People named in this filing

  • Lucero Sondakh-Dorantes (President)
  • Elizabeth Aguin (Vice President)
  • Melany Gonzalez (Treasurer)

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

Volar provides individualized college and career advising to first-generation students in the Dallas area. Our goal is to increase degree attainment for these groups of students. In addition, we want to support college completion for students choosing this path through best fit counseling, family engagement, and scholarship opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2025

VOLAR provided 21,360 minutes of individualized advising through its college, high school, and primary advisors. The primary advisor also dedicated 8-10 hours per month to training and coordinating with contractors supporting student services. During the year, VOLAR served 51 students within its core cohort and an additional 19 students through community workshops and virtual advising sessions. Services were delivered both virtually and in-person, supporting students in college access, career development, and financial aid processes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 71.4%; rating input score 71

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.6%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 48.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 84.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -9.3% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.2% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74% of revenue deployed · 71.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $39K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.