Wilderness Fellowship Ministries Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510175560
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Frederic, WI, USA
Phone
7153278564
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$488,463
Expenses
$523,393
Assets
$1,240,876
Liabilities
$15,497

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RANDY KLAWITTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • RANDY KLAWITTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $53,925 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide a place of refuge, peace, restoration and hope, dedicated to help people establish intimacy with jesus christ and those they love.

What it reported doing in 2025

We are a christian camping and retreat center providing prayer cabins, group/family cabins, campsites, and a fellowship center nestled amongst over 250 acres of wilderness in the landscape of northwestern wi. In 2025, 3,448 people stayed on the grounds, staying a combined 8,151 nights.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $34.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 82.7%; rating input score 83; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.37; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.1% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $442K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.