Cots Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391913179
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Appleton, WI, USA
Phone
9207343609
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Temporary Housing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,244,829
Expenses
$1,547,375
Assets
$3,060,664
Liabilities
$94,359

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CINDY SAHOTSKY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CINDY SAHOTSKY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $136,813 total reported compensation
  • DAN LIGHTFUSS LEFT TREASURER IN JAN (TREASURER/CFO): $101,576 total reported compensation
  • JOE WILZ (DIRECTOR): $25,325 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

"ending homelessness in the fox valley." by providing temporary transitional shelter and basic needs for homeless men, women, young adults and single mother families in outagamie, winnebago and calumet counties. Our goal is to respectfully provide homeless individuals a safe and affordable place to live, food, household needs and training on basic living skills enabling them to transition to self-sufficiency and independent living.

What it reported doing in 2025

Continue to improve on living facilities for those in need. Continue to work with other shelter providers to increase referral sources and provide inclusive continuum of care for residents to ensure successful transition to permanent housing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 67% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.8%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 89.5%; rating input score 89; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -24.3%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.98; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.8% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $137K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.