Making IT Better

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Making It Better is dedicated to transforming communities by empowering children and families through literacy, leadership, and life skills. Literacy Now operates in 11 Houston Independent School District (HISD) campuses and multiple community sites.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
75¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 274 volunteers and 51 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
The IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
The latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $121K a year · 6% of revenue · last 6 filings
A surplus in 3 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
75%
of spending
75% of spending went to programs.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$94K
to officers and key staff · 4% of spending
Pay to officers and key staff is 4% of spending.
Part VII, Section A
5.0 mo
of spending, in cash
5.0 months of spending in cash.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
11
named funders · $162K
11 funders name it on their filings.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$52K
4% of total assets
Liabilities are 4% of assets.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
13
of 13 voting members
13 of 13 voting members are independent.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Revenue
$2.6M
+16% vs prior year
Spent
$2.4M
To programs
75%
Net assets
$1.4M
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$2.6M
FY2025▲ +16%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$885K
FY2021$1.6M
FY2022$2.7M
FY2023$2.5M
FY2024$2.3M
FY2025$2.6M
Expenses
$2.4M
FY2025▲ +2%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$1.2M
FY2021$1.3M
FY2022$1.8M
FY2023$2.9M
FY2024$2.3M
FY2025$2.4M
Net assets
$1.4M
FY2025▲ +25%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$313K
FY2021$615K
FY2022$1.5M
FY2023$1.1M
FY2024$1.1M
FY2025$1.4M

From the FY2025 Form 990 (year ending July 2025) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 2006.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

75 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 75% · $1.8M Management & general 10% · $236K Fundraising 16% · $368K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

Something off? Claim to add context

Who runs it and what they're paid

14 people listed on the 990; $94K paid to officers and key staff (Part VII, Section A).

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2024); the FY2025 filing did not itemize Part VII
$94,076Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Jacklyn Wilson from 824’s $94K as CEO is at the 29th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3869 $1–10M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Jacque Daughtry—$93,305$99,171$93,277$80,000$77,514
Jacklyn Wilson from 824$94,076—————

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Making IT Better executive salaries →

Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Empowering children and families through literacy, leadership, and life skills to transform communities.

Questions for Making IT Better

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1 program · $1.8M · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

The 25-week Reading Intervention program provides individualized, small-group reading tutorials for at-risk students in grades K-6 to help them become readers by the end of 3rd grade. The Reading Express mobile classroom visits low-income communities to provide reading readiness programming for young children (2 months to age 4).

$1.8Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
See all 11 funders →

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$2.6M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$2.1M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$540K
Investment incomeLn 3$33K
Money outPt IX
$2.4M
Ln 25
Programscol B$1.8M
Managementcol C$236K
Fundraisingcol D$368K
Owns and owesPt X
$1.4M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$991K
Total assetsLn 16$1.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$52K
PeoplePt VI, VII
14
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a13
IndependentVI 1b13
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$2.1M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$133K
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$513K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$540K
Investment incomeLn 3$33K
Gains on assetsLn 7$5K
Total revenueLn 12$2.6M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$594K
SavingsLn 2$397K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$991K
Pledges and grants receivableLn 3$88K
Accounts receivableLn 4$50K
Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesLn 9$17K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$272K
Total assetsLn 16$1.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$52K
Net assetsLn 32$1.4M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 551
VolunteersI 6274
Fiscal year endsHeaderJuly
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3More from this return
Abroad and in kindSch F, M
Noncash gifts receivedSch M Pt I$133K
4Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$725K$991K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$261K$272K
Total assetsLn 16$1.1M$1.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$53K$52K
Net assetsLn 32$1.1M$1.4M
5Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of officers and key staff (Part IX, line 5)Ln 5$136K$34K$68K$34K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$1.7M$1.4M$94K$214K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$52K$44K$2K$6K
Payroll taxesLn 10$135K$104K$12K$18K
Accounting feesLn 11c$48K$48K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$27K$10K$2K$15K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$53K$25K$28K
Office expensesLn 13$91K$64K$2K$25K
Information technologyLn 14$42K$20K$3K$19K
TravelLn 17$15K$13K$1K$1K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$8K$5K$1K$1K
InsuranceLn 23$17K$15K$2K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$70K$63K$2K$6K
Total functional expensesLn 25$2.4M$1.8M$236K$368K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest ViewingFiled with the IRS Mar 12, 2026 $2.6M$2.4M$276K$1.4M 990 PDF
FY2024Filed with the IRS Mar 25, 2025 $2.3M$2.3M−$47K$1.1M 990 PDF
FY2023Filed with the IRS Mar 5, 2024 $2.5M$2.9M−$352K$1.1M 990 PDF
FY2022Filed with the IRS Mar 31, 2023 $2.7M$1.8M$864K$1.5M 990 PDF
FY2021Filed with the IRS Feb 9, 2022 $1.6M$1.3M$302K$615K 990 PDF
FY2020Filed with the IRS Mar 3, 2021 $885K$1.2M−$315K$313K 990 PDF

Schedules filed Part IV

A · Public support I · Grants M · Noncash O · Explanations
See the full FY2025 990
Part I · Summary $2,647,346 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $1,822,179$2,123,655
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $503,499$539,851
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $33,247$32,761
I-11 Other revenuePrior year −$72,011−$48,921
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $2,286,914$2,647,346
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $1,941,826$1,999,238
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $391,963$371,666
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $2,333,789$2,370,904
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$46,875$276,442
Part VI · Governance 13 of 13 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body13
VI-1b Independent voting members13
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,647,346 across 9 lines filed
VIII-1c Fundraising events$513,232
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$1,610,423
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$133,067
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$2,123,655
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $539,851$539,851
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $27,660$27,660
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $5,101$5,101
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$48,921−$48,921
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $539,851 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax −$16,160$2,647,346
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $2,370,904 across 13 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of officers and key staff (Part IX, line 5)Programs $34,067 · Management $68,135 · Fundraising $34,067$136,269
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $1,369,391 · Management $93,674 · Fundraising $213,650$1,676,715
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $43,916 · Management $1,543 · Fundraising $6,214$51,673
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $104,464 · Management $11,790 · Fundraising $18,327$134,581
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $47,960$47,960
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $10,371 · Management $1,509 · Fundraising $14,885$26,765
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $25,251 · Fundraising $27,980$53,231
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $63,746 · Management $2,051 · Fundraising $25,058$90,855
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $19,632 · Management $2,712 · Fundraising $19,468$41,812
IX-17 TravelPrograms $12,594 · Management $1,112 · Fundraising $1,493$15,199
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $5,410 · Management $1,422 · Fundraising $1,490$8,322
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $15,023 · Management $2,076$17,099
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $62,603 · Management $2,254 · Fundraising $5,566$70,423
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $1,766,468 · Management $236,238 · Fundraising $368,198$2,370,904
Part X · Balance sheet $1,417,471 assets, 14 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $144,107$593,680
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $580,807$397,187
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $65,450$88,400
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $44,000$49,500
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $45,473$16,640
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $260,826$272,064
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $1,255$0
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $1,141,918$1,417,471
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $49,328$51,939
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $52,828$51,939
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $1,003,640$1,227,132
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $85,450$138,400
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $1,089,090$1,365,532
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $1,141,918$1,417,471
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,365,532 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$2,647,346
XI-2 Total expenses$2,370,904
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$276,442
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$1,089,090
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$1,365,532

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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