Ronald Mcdonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391433107
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Wauwatosa, WI, USA
Phone
4144755333
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Patient Services - Entertainment, Recreation

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,370,774
Expenses
$4,898,623
Assets
$52,764,943
Liabilities
$462,165

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURIE BERTRAND (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURIE BERTRAND (PRESIDENT/CEO): $194,728 total reported compensation
  • BRIDGET KESNER (DIRECTOR OF PHILANTHROPY): $120,972 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ronald mcdonald house charities of eastern Wisconsin, inc. Keeps families together and promotes the health and well-being of children. The organization provides a home environment and supportive family programs.

What it reported doing in 2025

House program - ronald mcdonald house charities of eastern Wisconsin, inc. Provides guest rooms and offers supportive family programs. Since 1984 families from around the world have called this ronald mcdonald house "home". Last year, we served over 2,836 families. While over 65% of our families come from Wisconsin, many families traveled from across the united states to seek life-giving medical care at children's Wisconsin, rogers behavioral health, and other area hospitals. On average, our families stay with us for just over 8.7 days; however, over 6% of families stay for longer than 30 days. Each family who stays at the rmhc can stay for as long as their child is receiving medical treatment. We suggest a donation of $20 a night from our families, when the cost is over $123 per night; however, no one is ever turned away for their inability to pay. The majority of our support comes from private funding through special events and donors. Although the mcdonald's corporation does not provide direct financial support, the mcdonald's owner/operators and its customers in southeastern and northeastern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan generously provide support through various fundraising activities including round up and donation boxes at mcdonald's restaurants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% 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.
  • 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.7%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 33.5%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.77; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.7% of revenue deployed · 81% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $195K · 27 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $816K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.