The Refugee Education Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061770896
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2010, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Phone
6162479611
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Minority Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,041,373
Expenses
$2,516,843
Assets
$2,781,007
Liabilities
$761,621

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rebecca Chabot (President)
  • Paula Schuiteman-Bishop (Vice President)
  • Margaret Derrer (Chief Executive Officer)

Highest reported compensation

  • Margaret Derrer (Chief Executive Officer): $124,547 total reported compensation
  • Erin VanMaanen (Chief Operating Officer): $83,369 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See Schedule OProvide resources and guidance to refugee children and their families as they gain the necessary skills for seamless and successful integration into the community through cradle to career support, including early childhood services, K-12 programming, community navigation, and cultural competency training for schools.

What it reported doing in 2025

Navigation Services provide community navigation guidance to refugee parents and caregivers as they seek stability and belonging to the West Michigan community. A focus on parent and caregiver for school orientation, school enrollment aid, and assistance with parent-teacher conferences and parent/student workshops is key. Additionally, referral services are provided to families and individuals to the Refugee Education Center for programs and services as well as our partners' direct service programs and/or other state-funded benefit programs. Household and family stability support are central, addressing issues of health, education, and economic stability. 413 students enrolled in school across various school districts in West Michigan and over 206 households were served in 2025. Additionally, 41 school districts were provided with consultation services to support aspects of successful educational outcomes for students of diverse backgrounds.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 64% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. 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: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.6%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 71.7%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 17.2%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.1; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.6% of revenue deployed · 71.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $125K · 11 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $126K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.