South Oakland Shelter

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382847849
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Pontiac, MI, USA
Phone
2489206000
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Homeless Shelters

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,866,136
Expenses
$11,618,324
Assets
$20,299,870
Liabilities
$9,002,871

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RYAN HERTZ (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • RYAN HERTZ (PRESIDENT & CEO): $267,342 total reported compensation
  • JENNY POMA (COO): $166,511 total reported compensation
  • RITA FIELDS (STRATEGIC & HR): $159,269 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Lighthouse mi endeavors to build equitable communities and alleviate poverty in partnership with and in service to individuals, families, and organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lighthouse addresses the immediate, emergency needs of community members by quickly providing access to flexible, client-centered, and housing-first programming. Lighthouse's emergency services department includes our agency family shelter as well and various resources to help households resolve financial crises. Lighthouse's emergency shelter is oakland county's only dedicated family shelter serving families of all types and makeups and successfully transitions over 70% into housing. Through various funding streams, lighthouse addresses and resolves immediate crises by providing a variety of services including: eviction prevention, emergency utility assistance to prevent shut-offs, and rapid re-housing assistance. Lighthouse also provides emergency food to individuals and families in need.

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

SUPPORTED - 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: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 71.4%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 2.1%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.5%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.7% of revenue deployed · 71.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $267K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $542K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 14 filed related-organization links
  • 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 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.