Union Gospel Mission
Legal name: Union Gospel Mission Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 410724066
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Duluth, MN, United States
- Phone
- (218) 722-1196
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,085,948
- Expenses
- $1,718,060
- Assets
- $1,642,375
- Liabilities
- $18,014
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- KATIE HAGGLUND (EXECUTIVE DI): $84,698 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
On November 1, 1922, nearly two dozen churches came together with a shared purpose: to offer food, shelter, and hope to our Northland neighbors in need. In partnership with the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth, Union Gospel Mission is in the process of relocating directly across from the St. Louis County Government Services Center to create a more coordinated, low-barrier response to homelessness and poverty in the Northland. The future Mission Engagement Center will serve as the front door for individuals experiencing crisis — offering immediate basic needs support, connections to healthcare and behavioral health services, housing navigation, recovery resources, and pathways toward long-term stability. The future **Mission Engagement Center** will offer a safe, welcoming environment for our neighbors in need. It will include:.
What it reported doing in 2024
Meal program union gospel mission's primary program continues to be its community meal service. Lunch is served monday through friday and dinner monday through thursday, offered to anyone seeking support-no residency requirements. In fye25, the mission served 99,219 hot meals and 27,843 cereal bowls, averaging 200-250 guests per meal. Food rescue to reduce costs and minimize food waste, ugm's team travels daily throughout duluth rescuing surplus food from local grocery stores and food vendors. In fye25, the mission rescued 201,186 pounds of food. Items not used in meals are made available to guests through open shelves, refrigerators, and freezers located in the dining hall. Summer food bag program each summer, ugm fills weekend food gaps for children when school meal programs pause. The project joy initiative provides drawstring bags filled with easy-to-open, easy-to-prepare food items. In summer 2025, the mission distributed 4,130 food bags to youth across the northland through direct partnerships with local summer programs and community organizations. Mission heights housing ugm operates mission heights, a twenty-unit, deeply affordable housing program located above the mission's dining hall. The program provides private, furnished rooms to individuals often declined by other housing options due to rental or background barriers. Residents receive a bed and bedding, a personal refrigerator, access to a shared fully stocked kitchen, free laundry, and ongoing staff support to promote long-term housing stability. Supportive services ugm offers a variety of essential resources beyond food and housing. Guests visit daily to access free apparel, household goods, hygiene items, and bus passes to help them attend appointments, interviews, and service connections. The mission's doors remain open on weekdays, offering a safe, welcoming space to rest, use restrooms, or enjoy a cup of coffee. Additionally, ugm's outreach team provides on-site support and individualized case management assistance-helping guests navigate housing applications, secure identification, and connect with medical, recovery, and social service providers. Through these combined efforts, ugm fosters dignity, stability, and connection for those experiencing homelessness or crisis.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 61
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71.2%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $30.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 17.6%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.96; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 71.2% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.