Underground Railroad Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382241312
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saginaw, MI, USA
Phone
9893990007
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Family Violence Shelters

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,039,017
Expenses
$3,754,709
Assets
$4,756,567
Liabilities
$431,181

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTI BIRCHMEIER (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTI BIRCHMEIER (PRESIDENT/CEO): $103,716 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to empower survivors and create a culture of safety and respect in our community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Children's services: the underground railroad (urr) offers three programs for children. Girls on the run (gotr) great lakes bay is a local council of gotr international, which is a national program for elementary and middle school girls. Urr's program is offered in the fall and spring at schools in saginaw, bay, arenac, tuscola, huron, midland, gladwin, and clare counties. Girls learn to make healthy choices and be joyful in a program that incorporates running and walking to build confidence and self-esteem. The 2025 spring program concluded with 207 girls participating in the girls on the run 5k at the dow run walk. The 2025 fall program concluded with 165 girls participating the girls on the run great lakes bay 5k.urr operates a state licensed childcare for residents of our emergency shelter and transitional housing programs and for non-resident victims who are attending group or individual counseling sessions (8,046.85 units provided). Individual and group counseling is available for children impacted by domestic violence (276 children served). Community development: the underground railroad's (urr) community development department provides community education and systems change activities to inform and transform our community to better meet the needs of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking in saginaw county. The program is also responsible for raising community donations to support prevention programs and services for victims and their families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 79% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $39.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.27; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.2% of revenue deployed · 88.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $104K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.