Refuge of Hope
Legal name: Refuge of Hope Ministries
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 341965221
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Canton, OH, USA
- Phone
- (330) 453-1785
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Interfaith Coalitions
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,139,765
- Expenses
- $3,632,418
- Assets
- $15,504,787
- Liabilities
- $598,756
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ED LAUBACHER (PRESIDENT)
- GREG WAGLER (VICE PRESIDENT)
- SCOTT SCHNYDERS (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- SCOTT SCHNYDERS (CEO): $118,928 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Refuge of Hope gives individuals in the Canton area a place to turn when all hope feels lost, serving those facing poverty and other dire situations through its food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare ministries. Volunteer Give Our mission is to glorify and serve God by providing meals for hungry men, women, and children, emergency shelter and transition to independence for homeless men, and spiritual hope through Jesus Christ. Our mission is to glorify and serve God by providing meals for hungry men, women, and children, emergency shelter and transition to independence for homeless men, and spiritual hope through Jesus Christ. Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
What it reported doing in 2025
The organization provides shelter nightly to homeless men. 18,800 nights of shelter were given during the year and $742,306 in clothing, personal products, furniture, and household goods was distributed to men in the shelter, as well as men, women, and children meal guests and the community at large in 2025. In addition, 98 men were transitioned from homelessness to independence in 2025.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 54
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 82
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 37.9%; rating input score 38
- Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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; 63rd 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 55.4%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.27; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 37.9% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $119K · 12 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $117K reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.