El Refugio

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850311066
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Silver City, NM, USA
Phone
5755382125
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Victims' Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,272,295
Expenses
$1,054,521
Assets
$1,985,642
Liabilities
$76,333

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RACHEL SIERRA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • RAUL VILLANUEVA (President)
  • DELLA ACOSTA (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • RACHEL SIERRA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $90,086 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

El refugio inc empowers all persons affected by domestic and sexual violence by providing advocacy education and services in a safe and supportive environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Victim advocacy services: el refugio has victim advocates who assist in the domestic violence protection order process. Victim advocates educate the victims about their options and provide support and assistance with civil or criminal court proceedings. Victim advocates assist clients to complete or file paperwork for temporary restraining orders, prepare victims for court hearings and refer high risk cases for legal counsel. Victim advocates support clients at court hearings, educate on victims rights and victim compensation. Victim advocates assess clients needs and assist clients and their children in obtaining benefits and/or services needed such as counseling, clothing, housing, food, child care, medical and mental health services. Additionally, victim advocates provide advocacy to battered immigrant women, including assistance with the vawa self-petition application or assistance obtaining legal counsel when necessary.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 92% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.1%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.88; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.9% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $90K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.