YMCA of Greater Houston

Legal name: Young Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
741109737
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
713-659-5566
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Young Men's or Women's Associations
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$120,385,507
Expenses
$122,131,080
Assets
$270,701,793
Liabilities
$119,443,863

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

Leadership & pay

55 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stephen Ives (President and CEO)
  • Jeffery Watkins (Executive Vice President (thru 8/25))

Highest reported compensation

  • Stephen Ives (President and CEO): $741,746 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Lopez (Secretary, Chief of Staff): $404,355 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Garcia (Chief Financial Officer): $359,018 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Join a movement that supports youth, strengthens families, and builds community. As the Chief Operating Officer for the YMCA of Greater Houston, Rick is responsible for overseeing the varied programming that the organization offers. This includes the YMCA’s health and fitness centers, youth programming, childcare, camps, swimming, enrichment, and more. Prior to joining the YMCA, Rick founded EMERGE Fellowship, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that helps first-generation low-income students attend and graduate from top colleges. He also had a distinguished career in education. After joining Teach for America and serving as an award-winning bilingual teacher in a high-poverty school, he assumed numerous senior leadership roles for the largest school system in.

What it reported doing in 2025

Healthy Living The YMCA of Greater Houston plays a vital role in enhancing community health by addressing chronic diseases and reducing the risk of drowning through targeted programs. Through inclusive programming designed for all-regardless of economic circumstance or location-the Y offers mindful activities and guidance on active living. A holistic approach empowers all community members to work toward a healthy spirit, mind, and body, ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to thrive. See Schedule O for additional information.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 61% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 96
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.7%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -1.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.22; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 4th 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: 86.2% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 45 of 45 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $101.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $742K · 55 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.3M reported
  • Consistency: 46 of 46 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.