The Mission Gate Christian Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431446430
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chesterfield, MO, USA
Phone
6363918832
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,559,998
Expenses
$1,651,028
Assets
$2,871,778
Liabilities
$62,444

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PATRICIA MATHES (PRES, TRES,): $65,324 total reported compensation
  • RICHARD J MATHES (VP, DIRECTOR): $33,198 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Provides in-prison services, life skills classes and residential housing and aftercare for parolees, probationers (and their children in women's facilities) and others in need of drug and alcohol recovery, enabling them to transition into society. Provides support and ministry to inmates and program graduates and to their families. Mission gate equips fathers to reunite with their children.

What it reported doing in 2024

All mission gate aftercare facilities are running at full capacity and are credentialed through mcrsp (Missouri coalition of recovery support providers) which meets narr (national alliance for recovery residences) national standards. Mission gate serves 350 or more ex-offenders and children yearly. All clients in the program maintain a 95% or higher employment rate. Volunteers from 135 local churches help with maintenance and programming in the prisons and jails, aftercare and christmas angel mission. Formal mentoring and training programs are provided to volunteers and staff. Training from the department of mental health for alcohol and drug recovery, mrss (Missouri recovery support specialist) and cps (certified peer specialist) is provided for staff and key volunteers. Mission gate continued to worked closely with centers for disease control, department of mental health, Missouri department of corrections, Missouri department of probation and parole, Missouri division of family services, national alliance of recovery residences, local health providers, department of revenue, churches and local employers to provide a continuum of care for our residents onsite such as ged/hiset, satop (substance awareness traffic offender program), and financial stewardship onsite with local banks and other entities. Mission gate has been very successful in building strong realtionships with the community. Quarantine units have been maintained and available to accommodate residents. Trish mathes, president, was awarded the 2024 helen b. Madden award from prevent+ed in st. Louis for appreciation of an exceptional career devoted to the treatment of substance use disorders. Joyce fields, hannah's ranch program director and greg smith, director of planning and development, were invited to present needs to impact 100 for hannah's ranch improvements and received a grant of 10,000. Mission gate received the 35,000 crawford opioid grant for transportation of residents in crawford county benefiting hannah's ranch and fort good shepherd. Mission gate received three community reentry funding awards from the state of Missouri department of corrections of 50,000 each for fort good shepherd, promises of hope and st louis city outreach to aid residents by providing housing and wrap around services including counselors, initial needs, etc. In november 2024 the lower part of fort good shepherd next to the meramec river was flooded causing damage to 14 cabins. Ten were reconstructed and 4 had to be demolished. Volunteers and a local contractor completed the construction. This was the worst flood ever at fort good shepherd. Men had to double up in other cabins on the property in order to be housed. The board of directors of mission gate voted unanimously to construct a 19 man residence on higher ground due to the flooding and additional requests for housing from correctional centers and those addicted to drugs or alcohol. The residence is scheduled for completion in 2026. 3-1/2 acres of property was purchased adjacent to the main lodge of fort good shepherd for future use.

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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $49.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.8%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.74; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.9% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.