House of Ruth

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521054102
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026677001
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Homeless Shelters

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,021,166
Expenses
$16,630,976
Assets
$30,995,778
Liabilities
$7,532,794

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SANDRA JACKSON (CEO/PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SANDRA JACKSON (CEO/PRESIDENT): $302,219 total reported compensation
  • GARIKAI BEVERLY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $220,532 total reported compensation
  • SHARON KNIGHT (CLINICAL DIRECTOR): $147,532 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

House of ruth helps women, children and families in greatest need and with very limited resources to build safe, stable lives and achieve their highest potential. Serving the district of columbia since 1976, house of ruth provides vulnerable, abused women and children with nurturing housing and comprehensive supportive services. The women are dealing with a variety of challenges, such as domestic violence, homelessness, life-long histories of abuse, mental health issues, substance abuse recovery and deep poverty. More than 1,000 women and children are assisted annually.

What it reported doing in 2024

Housing and services for families - house of ruth provides housing enriched with comprehensive supportive services to families who are homeless and abused, serving up to 78 families and more than 200 children at any given time. Housing and services are provided at four apartment buildings as well as scattered site apartments throughout the district of columbia. The mothers pursue an active schedule of employment or education or training, mental health and/or addiction recovery work, positive child-rearing and learning daily living skills. The children attend school or day care, after school enrichment programs and receive intensive counseling and developmental services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.5%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th 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: 16.9%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.86; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.5% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $14.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $302K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.