Isaiah 61 Cafe
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 822530924
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Laconia, NH, USA
- Phone
- 6033056741
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Emergency Assistance
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $319,190
- Expenses
- $284,976
- Assets
- $724,323
- Liabilities
- $174,390
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Mary Kathryn Ferguson (President)
- Jeff Boutin (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Dawn Longval Executive (Director): $36,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Organization's mission is to provide food, shelter, fellowship and other assistance to individuals in need.
What it reported doing in 2025
Isaiah 61 Cafe provides a warm, loving atmosphere for individuals in need. In addition to providing hot breakfasts and lunches five days a week, the Organization also provides access to showers, laundry, lockers, mail, clothing and supplies. Other essential services include as-needed transportation; advocacy with social services, state assistance and drug rehabilitation centers; and respite and hope through daily acoustic worship. In 2025, the Organization provided nutritious meals to an average of 110 people each day. During the winter months, the Organization also offers a thirty-one bed, overnight emergency shelter. The emergency shelter is open 120 nights a year, generally between December and April. Seventy-eight individuals utilized the shelter in 2025.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 77
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.2%; rating input score 72
- Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $93.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.7%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.54; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.2% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $231K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $36K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.