Newman Connection

Legal name: Catholic Campus Ministries Inc D/b/a Newman Connection

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800739832
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Teutopolis, IL, US
Phone
866-815-2034
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Support N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,446,517
Expenses
$1,598,079
Assets
$385,813
Liabilities
$161,771

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WILLIAM ZERRUSEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHAUN COLEMAN (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $256,867 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW ZERRUSEN (SECRETARY): $150,000 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER HOPKINS (ST. FULLSTACK ENGINEER): $150,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Newman Connection bridges the most critical gap in the Catholic lifecycle, linking students to campus ministries, parishes, and leaders who welcome them by name.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization equips campus ministers and ministry leaders with the tools, resources, and strategies needed to build strong, relational catholic communities. This includes providing access to digital platforms, training, and proven outreach models that help leaders move students from initial interest to authentic belonging.central to this work is enabling immediate, personal connection. Through tools such as called llc's app and structured outreach strategies, ministry leaders can engage students as soon as they express interestoften before they arrive on campus. In 2025, the organization also introduced a national campus ministry scorecard to provide visibility into the impact of campus ministry nationwide, highlight best practices, and strengthen the effectiveness of ministries serving young adults. Together, these efforts ensure that campus ministries are equipped to consistently connect, engage, and support students during one of the most critical transitions of their lives.the organization measures success by the number of students who arrive at their next stage of life already connected to catholic communityknown, welcomed, and engaged before drift begins.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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 - 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 a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 51
  • Sustainability: 12
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.5%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 42.9%; rating input score 43; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 99.5% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $257K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.