Refuge Widowers Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
920666489
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Woodstock, GA, USA
Phone
4044416253
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$225,217
Expenses
$232,048
Assets
$96,137
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kyle Emerson (Vice President)
  • Daniel Brooker (Founder/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Daniel Brooker (Founder/CEO): $130,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Refuge Widowers exists to guide widowers through gospel-centered community.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Refuge Widowers Retreat guests were provided with the following over two separate retreats - one in the spring and one in the fall:- A community of widowers committed to walking with each other through their grief journey - Multiple sessions developed and led by grief experts covering core areas of the grief journey.- Access to one-on-one coaching from grief guides. - Curated resources and curriculum provided to each guest. -Meals prepared by a titled chef and his team. -Group workouts led by Refuge Guides- Online gatherings offered post retreat where Refuge team members guide each group through curriculum and challenges in a virtual setting. - Ongoing engagement with each guest through discipleship post-retreat.- Assignment of mentor to guests to closely walk with them post retreat. -Launch of small group that meets on a weekly basis-Regularly scheduled newsletter

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 59
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 56%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.9% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $199K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.