River of Refuge

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270280023
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
8167375100
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Temporary Housing

Reported finances

Revenue
$699,785
Expenses
$956,472
Assets
$12,420,618
Liabilities
$69,540

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AUSTEN SCHMIDT (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAMELA SEYMOUR (EXECUTIVE DI): $88,970 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

River of refuge empowers working poor families with financial security through interim housing

What it reported doing in 2025

River of refuge provides temporary housing to working homeless families. Families live in a fully furnished apartment on site at river of refuge on average 4-6 months while working a customized program. The program is focused on paying off debt which is prohibiting the family from securing stable housing, which is typically due to evictions and past due rent and utilities. Each program is tailored to the situation of the individual family. Families are placed on a strict, "all needs, no wants" budget and meet weekly with their assigned case manager. In addition to case management, families must attend weekly parenting and life skills classes on site at river of refuge. The river of refuge approach seeks to change the behavior of homeless families so that they can better achieve sustained housing moving forward.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th 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: Limited
  • 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -36.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.99; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $823K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $89K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.