Ithaca Welcomes Refugees

Legal name: Ithaca Welcomes Refugees Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821987282
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Ithaca, NY, USA
Phone
607-288-3815
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ethnic, Immigrant Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$349,328
Expenses
$258,425
Assets
$286,598
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CASEY VERDEROSA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CASEY VERDEROSA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $47,180 total reported compensation
  • BRONWYN LOSEY (DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL ROOTS PLAY SCHOOL): $19,359 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ithaca Welcomes Refugees partners with refugee and immigrant families to help them resettle and thrive in Tompkins County.

What it reported doing in 2024

GLOBAL ROOTS PLAY SCHOOL - IWRs Global Roots Play School was established to allow parents of children aged 18 month to 5 years to attend English as a Second Language ESL classes. This part-time school is a play-based, trauma-informed early childcare environment which primarily serves refugee and immigrant families. It is staffed by a part-time program director and part-time teachers. In 2024, 22 children were enrolled, allowing 41 caregivers to pursue their goals during school hours, most commonly by attending ESL classes. Children develop trusting relationships with adults outside the home, self-confidence, peer relationships, and kindergarten readiness.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 63% for direct work, and 37% for grants.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.1%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 69.8%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 11
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 38.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th 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: 52.1% of revenue deployed · 69.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $180K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $47K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 8 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.