The Cathedral Center

Legal name: Cathedral Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
743038890
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Milwaukee, WI, United States
Phone
414-831-0394
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,246,017
Expenses
$2,760,636
Assets
$4,054,213
Liabilities
$484,336

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH SELLARS (PRESIDENT/CHAIR)
  • PAT HICKEY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DONNA RONGHOLT-MIGAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DONNA RONGHOLT-MIGAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $185,619 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Cathedral Center's mission is to provide a safe environment for women and families while working to end homelessness in Milwaukee, one life at a time. Learn about The Cathedral Center's goals in providing vital support to hundreds of women and families in crisis every year. Our personalized approach helps each individual create a tailored plan for achieving independence focused on securing stable housing, increasing income, and boosting health and well-being. Mission The Cathedral Center's mission is to provide a safe environment for women and families. While our guests and clients are challenged by the need for safe housing, financial independence, and emotional support, their barriers are far more complex. The Cathedral Center understands these complexities and offers programs that address the specific needs of women and families in crises. Through emergency shelter and...

What it reported doing in 2025

Shelter - emergency shelter: in 2025, cathedral center provided 15,232 nights of emergency shelter to 195 women and 50 families comprised of 60 adults and 85 children, resulting in an occupancy rate of 77%. We maintained occupancy, even during a 6 week period in which guests were served at an alternate location, due to significant building damage during historic storms. Shelter services include access to comprehensive case management services that beings with an assessment and inlcues providing guests with tools and resources to reach goals focused on securing safe housing, increasing income and health and well-being. Case managers provide referrals to supportive services in the community, as well as support guests internally with meeting basic needs such as clothing, food and transportation, as well as employment and parent support. Shelter staff provide daily meals, hygiene items and ensure safety and support during their temporary shelter stay.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 75.1% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $186K · 14 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.