Ashrei Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871876155
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3142520717
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$587,015
Expenses
$447,156
Assets
$954,022
Liabilities
$5,277

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sara Ruiz (Executive Director)
  • Ken Goldman (Immediate Past President)
  • Helen Petty (President)
  • Mindy Berkowitz (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sara Ruiz (Executive Director): $100,178 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Ashrei Foundation exists to empower and activate the St. Louis community and partners throughout the state of Missouri to promote economic justice, to relieve suffering, and interrupt cycles of poverty.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Ashrei Foundations Refugee Resettlement Project began in 2021 as a women-led volunteer initiative welcoming families from Afghanistan and Ukraine to St. Louis. Now a formal Ashrei program, it provides housing, education, employment, and community integration support while advancing advocacy for refugee and immigrant rights. Volunteers coordinate sponsorships, travel, stipends, benefits access, ESL, and employment support. Ashrei also fiscally sponsors Camp Indigo Point, a two-week summer camp for LGBTQ youth - especially trans and gender-expansive campers - offering an affirming space for safety and belonging. Scholarships ensure cost is never a barrier, helping more than 340 campers from 27 states since 2021. Additionally, Ashrei supports labor rights and civic engagement, tracking legislation, hosting community trainings and amplifying the work of Missouri Jobs with Justice, the Missouri Workers Center, and allied organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.4%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 70.2%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.8%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.13; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 102.9% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -33.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.4% of revenue deployed · 70.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $314K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.