Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510612966
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
West Chester, PA, USA
Phone
8775666338
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,630,656
Expenses
$916,311
Assets
$2,561,147
Liabilities
$3,239

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARY RADFORD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MATTHEW GERKEN (CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY RADFORD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $181,897 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 mission of the mater ecclesiae fund for vocations (the fund) is to increase the number of men and women in catholic religious life by awarding grants to individuals who have vocations to the catholic religious life, but who are prevented from beginning or continiuing their formation by their pre-existing student loans and other financial obligations.

What it reported doing in 2025

The fund conducts an ongoing public education and public awareness campaign to inform members of the catholic faithful about the tremendous problem facing men and women who are prevented from pursuing their vocations to the catholic priesthood and/or religious life by their student debts. In 2025, approximately 4000 catholic households were contacted through a direct mail program (including both postal mail and e-mail) about this program and about the solution developed by the fund. The fund also operates through its website, fundforvocations.org, and on social media, including facebook, instagram, linked-in and youtube. The facebook pages reported 46,500 views and 5,300 interactions. The instagram profile had 370,500 views and 14,600 interactions. Linked-in, the youtube channel and the website also saw strong growth in views and engagement in 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 51% for direct work, and 49% for grants.
  • 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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 45.3%; rating input score 45
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 43.8%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.8; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 45.3% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $708K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $182K · 10 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 45/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.