Stronghold Rescue & Relief
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 832711117
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Menomonee Falls, WI, USA
- Phone
- 2623029416
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Victims' Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,624,449
- Expenses
- $2,414,263
- Assets
- $1,182,589
- Liabilities
- $13,397
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- EPHRAIM MATTOS (CEO/PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- EPHRAIM MATTOS (CEO/PRESIDENT): $156,000 total reported compensation
- JASON TORLANO (FIELD TEAM LEADER): $140,250 total reported compensation
- ROBERT O'SHEA JR (HEAD OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT): $126,436 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We protect and care for families in conflict zones.
What it reported doing in 2025
We sent small teams of veterans into multiple conflict zones around the world to organize and conduct rescue and relief programs in support of oppressed communities, as part of our policy of "charity with dignity", our teams trained, supplied, and mentored groups of locals, enabling them to conduct their own programs and stand on their own in times of trouble. Our teams directly served local families by providing emergency medical and emergency medical training, and by delivering situation-specific humanitarian relief.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 53% for direct work, and 47% for grants.
- 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 69
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.8%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 13th 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.6%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 30.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 32.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 68.8% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 6 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.