Catholic United Financial

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410182070
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Arden Hills, MN, USA
Phone
1-800-568-6670
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$67,560,323
Expenses
$78,534,026
Assets
$951,784,215
Liabilities
$931,802,481

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Ahles (President/Chairman)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Ahles (President/Chairman): $468,722 total reported compensation
  • Paul Zastrow (Sr. VP, Secretary/Treasurer): $403,389 total reported compensation
  • John Tetzloff (Director of Sales): $261,127 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Catholic United Financial is a member-owned, not-for-profit fraternal benefit society that connects people of faith, protects their future, and generously impacts parishes, schools, and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

In accordance with our mission to promote fraternalism and charity among our members through a local council system and representative governance, $366,855 was provided to our Councils and communities. Of this amount, $130,325 was spent on Local Councils, $70,608 on matching grants, $113,118 was spent to conduct Regional Member Gatherings, $10,006 on miscellaneous donations, and $42,798 was spent on Member Recognition programs and conducting Gather4Good events. Gather4Good is a volunteer, family-oriented service project started in 2010 to assemble personal care kits for people in the local community experiencing homelessness.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 61% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Member-benefit provider. The nonprofit used 99% of its reported program spending for member benefits.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.12; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.98; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 89% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $55.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $469K · 15 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 46 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.