David's Refuge

Legal name: David's Refuge Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453686680
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Liverpool, NY, US
Phone
(315) 682-4204
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Patient Services - Entertainment, Recreation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,723,276
Expenses
$1,261,882
Assets
$3,983,688
Liabilities
$19,948

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES GODLESKI (PRESIDENT THROUGH 10/2025)
  • JESSICA CHARBONEAU (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • WILLIAM KIRCHOFF (PRESIDENT AS OF 11/2025)
  • KATE HOUCK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATE HOUCK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $104,945 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide respite, resources and support to parents and guardians of children with special needs or life threatening medical conditions where they will be refreshed, restored and renewed in their role as caregivers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Community events: in addition to weekend respite, we provide community programming opportunities. The more regular their respite, the more parents are able to deal with stress, thus preventing potential health and family breakdowns. Families are invited to events such as the caregiver summit and welleness retreat, valentine's day date, nourishing you mom's retreat, halloween event, dad's day and more. In addition, there are program team collaborations to include couples retreats, mini retreat overnight and burnout retreat. Thisservice touched over 1580 caregivers in 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.3%; rating input score 49
  • Program expense ratio: 63.8%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 26th 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; 64th 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: 26.8%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.16; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.1% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 49.3% of revenue deployed · 63.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $805K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 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: Mission deployment rate scored 49/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.