Wayside Waifs

Legal name: Wayside Waifs Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
440605374
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Kansas City, MO, US
Phone
(816) 761-8151
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,272,726
Expenses
$8,704,429
Assets
$40,863,396
Liabilities
$498,474

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHRYN MAHONEY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHRYN MAHONEY (PRESIDENT): $172,725 total reported compensation
  • ROBIN ROWLAND (VP DONOR RELATIONS & COMMUNICATIONS): $165,178 total reported compensation
  • ALISON REDER (VP OF ANIMAL WELFARE): $149,930 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Preparing pets and people for the bond of their lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

As Kansas city's largest and most comprehensive no kill pet adoption campus, wayside waifs is committed to finding homes for all adoptable pets. We serve more than 38,000 pets and people every year through pet adoptions, pet memorial aftercare, youth education, canine training programs, and community outreach. We do not euthanize adoptable animals, and there are no time limits for animals in our care. Only animals suffering from significant medical issues or those that pose a danger are humanely euthanized. We are proud to be a part of Kansas city's no kill community. Wayside is a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity with regional and national reach. In 2024, we served 38,056 pets and people.(continued on schedule o)pet adoption program: wayside found loving homes for 3,727 homeless animals. The average length of stay for shelter animals was 20 days. A complete circle of care was provided to all homeless pets based on their individual needs, including services like: foster care, veterinary care, life-saving surgery and diagnostics, training, specialized behavior modification, and enrichment.community outreach: 4,139 pets and people were served through outreach programs. This included low-cost vaccine drive-thru events, free spay/neuter events, free food and supplies through the pet food pantry, free animal behavior support, and trap-neuter-release for community cats.education program: 10,640 youth were reached through education programs. This included no more bullying violence prevention curriculum, kids in action, camp wayside, dog safety classes, among others. The no more bullying program was named the 2023 educator's choice award for best youth humane education program by the association of professional humane educators.additional 2024 accomplishments include: 3,707 surgeries performed 110 dogs received care at the canine behavior center 190 animals reunited with their families 94% live release rate 1,276 animals fostered 762 families served through pet memorial services 38 vet students completed the wayside vet preceptorship program

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 77.5%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.3%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.69; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 13 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 70.4% of revenue deployed · 77.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $173K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $762K reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.