Churches United
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 411594892
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Moorhead, MN, United States
- Phone
- (218) 656-7495
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Support N.E.C.
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,521,148
- Expenses
- $2,987,665
- Assets
- $5,772,751
- Liabilities
- $1,246,959
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOE HALVORSON (PAST PRESIDENT)
- JESS SPIEKER FERDEN (PRESIDENT)
- SCOTT KOSTOHRYZ (VICE PRESIDENT)
- SUSAN PETERSON-KOESTERMAN (CEO (THROUGH JULY 2024))
- PASTOR DEVLYN BROOKS (CEO (STARTED AUGUST 2024))
Highest reported compensation
- SUSAN PETERSON-KOESTERMAN (CEO (THROUGH JULY 2024)): $84,941 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to provide safe shelter, stable housing, nutritious food, and a path toward healing. Micah’s Mission Micah’s Mission provides emergency shelter to men, women, families, and veterans in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Our facilities include on-site case management, a community center, and hot meals served twice daily. The Community Center is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for access to our services and resources. 1901 1st Ave N. Micah’s Mission provides emergency shelter to men, women, families, and veterans in the Fargo-Moorhead area. 1901 1st Ave N Moorhead, MN 56560.
What it reported doing in 2024
Cu provides safe shelter, stable housing, nutritious food, and a path toward healing to our neighbors in need. All persons are welcome, regardless of faith or spiritual perspective, including those who embrace no faith tradition or practice. Churches united provides shelter, support services, community meals, and gatherings for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. We consist of two food pantries, three shelters, and one permanent supportive housing apartment complex. Our largest shelter, micah's mission, is the only shelter in our area that shelters men, women, and families. Our food pantry in moorhead is the largest consumer choice pantry in the area.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 62% 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
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 96
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 52.8%; rating input score 53
- Program expense ratio: 78%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $705.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 33.9%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.93; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 52.8% of revenue deployed · 78% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 2 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.