Vocation Ministry

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810840693
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
2813524005
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$488,482
Expenses
$501,751
Assets
$504,505
Liabilities
$8,561

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rhonda Gruenewald (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rhonda Gruenewald (President): $95,083 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Vocation Ministry's mission is to equip the Church once again to awaken the call of a vocation within the human heart by creating an environment that encourages men and women to say "Yes" to God's call in their lives to the priesthood, consecrated life, or marriage.

What it reported doing in 2024

Vocation Ministry trains, equips, and encourages priests, laity, and educators to promote Catholic vocations through awareness and prayer. We do this by presenting training workshops for priests and laity and providing books, workbooks, and free resources. In 2024, Vocation Ministry presented 59 workshops, training more than 4,538 people, and reached 14 new dioceses across the country.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% 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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.5%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 63.5%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 46% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.5% of revenue deployed · 63.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $319K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.