Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$17,627,890

Total expenses

$9,106,570

Contributions and grants received

$13,840,901

Grants paid

$165,000

Program service revenue

$3,325,683

Investment income

$457,756

Other revenue

$3,550

Total assets, end of year

$18,517,721

Total liabilities, end of year

$1,567,231

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$16,950,490

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$6,665,486

Management and general expenses

$1,806,975

Fundraising expenses

$634,109

Program service expenses (Part III)

$6,665,486

Program services were 73.2% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2023

• FAMILY SELF-SUFFICIENCY (FSS) PROGRAM:SINCE 2010, COMPASS WORKING CAPITAL ("COMPASS") HAS PARTNERED WITH PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES AND PRIVATE OWNERS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT AN ASSET-BUILDING AND FINANCIAL CAPABILITY MODEL FOR THE FAMILY SELF-SUFFICIENCY ("FSS") PROGRAM, A HISTORICALLY UNDERUTILIZED SAVINGS AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM OVERSEEN BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ("HUD"). CONGRESS ESTABLISHED THE FSS PROGRAM IN 1990 AS AN EMPLOYMENT AND SAVINGS PROGRAM FOR RESIDENTS OF FEDERALLY SUBSIDIZED HOUSING. FAMILIES RECEIVING THIS ASSISTANCE TYPICALLY PAY 30% OF THEIR INCOME TOWARDS RENT. THIS STRUCTURE INADVERTENTLY DISCOURAGES SOME RESIDENTS FROM INCREASING THEIR WORK HOURS AND EARNINGS SINCE THEY WORRY ABOUT PAYING MORE RENT AND LOSING OTHER BENEFITS IF THEIR INCOME INCREASES. THE FSS MODEL REMOVES THIS DISINCENTIVE BY ALLOWING PARTICIPANTS TO CAPTURE THEIR INCREASED RENT PAYMENTS IN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT, HELD BY THE HOUSING PROVIDER, WHICH CAN BE ACCESSED UPON COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAM. PARTICIPANTS CAN UTILIZE THEIR SAVINGS TO ACHIEVE THEIR FINANCIAL GOALS. THE COMPASS FSS MODEL INTEGRATES FINANCIAL COACHING AND OTHER ASSET BUILDING STRATEGIES INTO THE FSS PROGRAM, WITH THE GOAL OF PROMOTING ECONOMIC MOBILITY AND FINANCIAL SECURITY FOR PARTICIPATING FAMILIES. THE FIRST MODEL OF ITS KIND IN THE COUNTRY, THE COMPASS FSS PROGRAM IS CURRENTLY OFFERED THROUGH PARTNERSHIP WITH PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITIES AND NONPROFIT HOUSING ORGANIZATIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS, PENNSYLVANIA, CONNECTICUT, FLORIDA, ILLINOIS, MARYLAND, MISSOURI, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, NORTH CAROLINA, RHODE ISLAND, TEXAS, VIRGINIA, AND WASHINGTON DC. THE COMPASS FSS PROGRAM HAS ATTRACTED LOCAL AND NATIONAL ATTENTION AS A SCALABLE, HOUSING-BASED MODEL TO SUPPORT FAMILIES WITH LOW INCOMES TO BUILD ASSETS, ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS, AND BECOME MORE FINANCIALLY SECURE.

  Expenses $5,314,080 · Revenue $3,065,470

• NATIONAL FIELD-BUILDING, TRAINING, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE:THE FSS PROGRAM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REACH AN ESTIMATED 2.2 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS NATIONALLY, YET ONLY A TINY SUBSET LESS THAN 3% OF ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS ARE CURRENTLY ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE PROGRAM. SINCE 2016, COMPASS HAS ALSO WORKED TO BUILD THE FIELD OF FSS PRACTITIONERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS NATIONALLY AND SHARE OUT OUR BEST PRACTICES TO EXPAND THE SCOPE AND IMPACT OF FSS. CURRENTLY, THE ORGANIZATION MANAGES AN ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM AND COMMUNITY CALLED FSS LINK, WHICH PROVIDES FSS PRACTITIONERS WITH ACCESS TO RESOURCES FOR FSS PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL COACHING, TRAINING, AND OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH OTHER FSS PRACTITIONERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. COMPASS ALSO PROVIDES TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON ITS MODEL FOR THE FSS PROGRAM TO HOUSING PROVIDERS WHO WANT TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THEIR EXISTING PROGRAMS OR LAUNCH NEW ONES. COMPASS ALSO HOSTS A BIENNIAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE FSS PROGRAM.

  Expenses $777,915 · Revenue $260,213

• SYSTEMS AND POLICY CHANGE:TO DELIVER ON OUR MISSION AND FULLY SUPPORT FAMILIES TO REACH THEIR FINANCIAL GOALS, COMPASS COMBINES DIRECT SERVICE AND FIELD-BUILDING WITH WORK ON BROADER SYSTEMS AND POLICY CHANGE. OUR FOCUS IS LARGELY ON ISSUES RELATED TO EXPANDING THE SCOPE AND IMPACT OF THE FSS PROGRAM, AS WELL AS OTHER PRIORITIES RELATED TO OUR MISSION TO END ASSET POVERTY AND NARROW THE RACIAL AND GENDER WEALTH DIVIDES. IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT THIS WORK, WE EDUCATE PUBLIC OFFICIALS, LEGISLATORS, AND POLICYMAKERS AT THE NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS, AND PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN COALITIONS, GROUPS, ADVOCACY EFFORTS, AND INFORMAL NETWORKS THAT ALIGN WITH OUR MISSION AND VISION AND ENABLE US TO HELP PROMOTE PROMISING IDEAS, PRACTICES, AND POLICIES. WE ALSO WORK TO ELEVATE THE VOICES AND LIVED EXPERIENCES OF OUR CLIENTS TO INFLUENCE SYSTEMS AND POLICY CHANGE.

  Expenses $573,491 · Grants $165,000 · Revenue $3,550

As filed on the 2023 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

14 January 2025

IRS schema version

2023v6.0

Source object

202540159349300149

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