Mi Just Cause
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 870972113
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
- Location
- Lansing, MI, USA
- Phone
- 5172813499
- Rating
- 63
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Temporary Housing
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $119,574
- Expenses
- $23,361
- Assets
- $668,753
- Liabilities
- $146,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Zachary Pope (President)
People named in this filing
- Zachary Pope (President)
- Mark Grafton (Treasurer)
- James Keyton (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
MI Just Cause is committed to serving chronically disenfranchised men in the City of Lansing. Our target demographic is young men aging out of foster care, those on parole or probation for non-violent offenses, and the habitually homeless. We will provide all basic needs required for day-to-day living housing, food, clothing, personal needs items, etc in a clean and safe facility, as well as mentorship and employment and housing services. Spiritual guidance and bible studies will also be offered. We will work closely with other area organizations to refer out mental health assistance. Our goal is to equip these men with everything they need to get back on their feet and stay there.
What it reported doing in 2024
North and East Sides of the facility tile flooring torn up, discarded. Floor leveled. New carpet squares installed throughout. - 2 bathrooms on East side of facility remodeled into 4 separate rooms, 2 bathrooms and 2 showers. - Electrical updates were done for these 4 separate bathroom areas as well. - Roof repaired & replaced on West side of facility. This update included replacing approximately 35% of the entire roof. - Fence repaired to completion. - Rotting Front porch torn out & discarded. New lattice-work installed. - Security cameras upgraded and installed. New lighting fixtures around entire perimeter of facility installed. - Plumbing (metal pipes) completely gutted & replaced with PVC pipes on East side of building. New water lines run to kitchenette area on North side. - 100 gallon water heater purchased. - Trees trimmed, yard waste in rear of property disposed of.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% 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.
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: 33
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 85
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 15%; rating input score 15
- Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 80.5%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 28.63; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 68.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -60.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 15% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $17K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 15/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.