Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Legal name: Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391982320
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2020
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2020, Form 990-T 2020
Location
La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States
Phone
(877) 799-4059
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,547,463
Expenses
$3,771,178
Assets
$53,966,591
Liabilities
$499,088

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LEIF ARVIDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • FR PAUL CHECK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEIF ARVIDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $126,363 total reported compensation
  • FR PAUL CHECK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $26,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin, faithful to the message of the Blessed Virgin Mary through her appearances on the American continent in 1531, serves the spiritual needs of those who suffer poverty in body and soul. It is a place of ceaseless prayer for the corporal and spiritual welfare of God's children, especially those in most need.

What it reported doing in 2020

Programs and presentations-the programs and presentations service area of the shrine is responsible for assisting individual pilgrims and pilgrimage tours by providing pilgrims with opportunities for catechesis, including receiving the sacraments of holy communion and confession. The programs and presentations service area strives to fulfill the mission of the shrine of our lady of guadalupe by helping serve the spiritual needs of those who suffer poverty in body and soul. It is a place of ceaseless prayer for the corporal and spiritual welfare of god's children, especially those in most need. The shrine welcomes about 80,000 pilgrims per year, for day pilgrimages, shrine events, and special celebrations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 63.3%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st 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; 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.1%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.31; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 59% of revenue deployed · 63.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.