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725 N 15TH ST
E Saint Louis IL 62205-2557
E Saint Louis IL | IRS ruling year: 2004 | EIN: 26-0096240
The mission of Gateway Pet Guardians is to end homelessness for animals in the Metro East St Louis community through rescue, rehabilitation, adoption, and community ... (More)
The mission of Gateway Pet Guardians is to end homelessness for animals in the Metro East St Louis community through rescue, rehabilitation, adoption, and community outreach. (Less)
Great
This charity's score is 90%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 32% Accountability & Finance, 50% Impact & Results, 7% Leadership & Adaptability, 10% Culture & Community. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.
We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charity’s success. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organization’s overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned.
Use the tool below to select different beacons to see how the weighting shifts when only one, two, or three beacons are earned.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits' annual tax filings (Forms 990). As a result, the Accountability & Finance score for Gateway Pet Guardians is outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of its current operations. Please check with the charity directly for any questions you may have.
Gateway Pet Guardians has earned a 100% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
This Accountability & Finance score represents IRS Form 990 data up until FY 2020, which is the most recent Form 990 currently available to us.
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Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Not ApplicableBoard Composition - 5/5 - 25/25 ptsBoard Composition - 5/5 - 25/25 pts
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Audit or Financial Review - Has Audit/Review - 20/20 ptsIndependent Audit or Financial Review - Has Audit/Review - 20/20 pts
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
| Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
|---|---|
| $1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
| $500,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
| Less than $500,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 3/3 ptsConflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Meeting Minutes - Documented - 3/3 ptsBoard Meeting Minutes - Documented - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction - Missing - 0/3 ptsDocument Retention and Destruction - Missing - 0/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy - Missing - 0/3 ptsWhistleblower Policy - Missing - 0/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Website - Listed - 3/3 ptsWebsite - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 25.79% - 25/25 ptsLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 25.79% - 25/25 pts
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
| Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| Less than 50% | Full Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
| 60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Ratio - 76.37% - 25/25 ptsProgram Expense Ratio - 76.37% - 25/25 pts
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
| Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| 70% or higher | Full Credit |
| 60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
| Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2020
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Activity data not reported from the IRS
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (Gateway Pet Guardians) or EIN (260096240) in the 'Search Term' field.
This organization was impacted by COVID-19 in a way that effected their financial health in 2020. This normally would have reduced their star rating. Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them, and doing this pauses our revision of their rating. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Gateway Pet Guardians reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
Fundraising Capacity
Revenue
Administrative Capacity
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
In 2020, Gateway Pet Guardians purchased the old Miles Davis School in East St. Louis to transition the building into a Pet Resource Center. We were scheduled to open the building on March 27, 2020--but the opening was delayed due to COVID-19. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois hadinstituted a Shelter in Place (SIP) order. We have had to significantly alter the way we operate to continue to serve the community. We are relying more on our partner full service veterinarians to diagnose, treat, and support community members while we work from a distance. Additionally, our full service veterinarians are often booked as they practice social distancing with curbside service and rotating staff, so in crisis situations we have had to resort to working with an emergency veterinary clinic, which has increased expenses.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
With the increased diagnostics, use of the emergency veterinary clinic, and financial instability in the community we work with, we expect the cost per pet impacted to increase. In the past, we have averaged $200 per pet through our program. During this crisis, we expect this to increase and would like to allow $500 per pet (with the goal of averaging $400 per pet).
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
COVID-19 has created a rippling effect within our organization, significantly impacting our financials as our 3 largest fundraising events have been cancelled and individuals donations and corporate sponsorships slow as our supporters experience hardships themselves. We scaled back programming to focus on only our most impactful programs and reduced expenses as a result; and reallocated staff in different areas. We are getting ready to launch a $100,000 COVID-19 relief fundraising campaign this summer to offset the projected funding gap we are anticipating as fundraising events continue to cancel through the end of the year. We applied for and received funding from the Payment Protection Program, but the calculations were based on our average salary expense for 2019. In 2020 and with our move to our facility, our payroll is much higher with the additional positions that we added.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
We will continue to conduct monthly drive thru vaccination and microchip clinics Our goal is that these changes will allow our organization to invest in our Spay/Neuter Surgery Suite and the hiring of a full-time vet tech to help with surgeries. We have a veterinarian on staff, and with the addition of a trained vet tech we will be able to move all spay/neuter surgeries in house for rescued pets. Our current wait list includes 35 adopted cats and 9 adopted dogs; as well as 6 fostered cats and 4 fostered dogs. Once we are able to tackle the backlog of animals waiting in the system, we can focus on progressing forward with spay/neuter surgeries for all rescue animals, and eventually resume TNR services in-house, as well.
Gateway Pet Guardians has earned a 80% for the Impact & Results beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon estimates the actual impact a charity has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot Applicable
Program
Animal Shelter, Foster & Adoption
Activities
The nonprofit rescues animals that would’ve otherwise been killed or in some other bad condition. These animals are taken in and sheltered.
Program Type
Animal Shelter
Beneficiaries Served
Program Geography
Time Period of Data
1/1/21 to 12/31/21
Outcomes: Changes in the lives of those served by a nonprofit. They can be caused by the nonprofit.
Costs: The money spent by a nonprofit and its partners and beneficiaries.
Impact: Outcome caused by a nonprofit relative to its cost.
Cost-effectiveness: A judgment as to whether the cost was a good use of resources to cause the outcome.
Outcome Metric
number of rescued animals
Outcome Data Source
Ratings are based on data the nonprofit itself collects on its work. We use the most recent year with sufficient data. Typically, this data allows us to calculate direct changes in participants' lives, such as increased income.
The nonprofit submitted data on how many animals it intaked as well as how many animals received a "non-rescue" exit
Method for Attributing Outcomes
We don't know if the observed changes were caused by the nonprofit's program or something else happening at the same time (e.g., a participant got a raise). To determine causation, we take the outcomes we observe and subtract an estimate of the outcomes that would have happened even without the program (i.e., counterfactual outcomes).
We assume that there is a lack of shelter for animals, and therefore assume a counterfactual percent likelihood of the animal being rescued otherwise as 0%.
Cost Data Source
After estimating the program's outcomes, we need to determine how much it cost to achieve those outcomes. All monetary costs are counted, whether they are borne by a nonprofit service deliverer or by the nonprofit’s public and private partners.
Program cost data reported by the nonprofit. Partner and beneficiary costs reported by the nonprofit or estimated by Charity Navigator.
Cost Calculation
$606,000 program costs + $35,424 partner costs + $147,593 beneficiary costs = $789,017 total costs
We calculate impact, defined as the change in outcomes attributable to a program divided by the cost to achieve those outcomes.
Impact Calculation
$789,017 total costs / 846 rescues = roughly $930 rescues one animal.
Benchmark for Rating
Impact & Results scores of animal shelters are based on the cost a household spends saving the life of their pet. Programs receive an Impact & Results score of 100 if they are less than 75% that cost and a score of 80 if they are less than 125%. If a nonprofit reports impact but doesn't meet the benchmark for cost-effectiveness, it earns a score of 65.
Determination
Cost-effective
Gateway Pet Guardians reported its two largest programs on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
Intake, Shelter, Foster and Adoption Programs: GPG takes in stray and surrendered animals from residents in the East St. Louis and surrounding communities. These include Alorton, Cahokia, Washington P ... (More)
Intake, Shelter, Foster and Adoption Programs: GPG takes in stray and surrendered animals from residents in the East St. Louis and surrounding communities. These include Alorton, Cahokia, Washington Park and Centreville. These communities' homeless animals make up 25% of the intake into our local municipal shelter. As part of our goal to end homelessness, over 200 foster families were added in 2019 to increase our capacity for care for rescued animals. And over 3000 hours of volunteer help assisted staff in shelter care. 1246 animal movements were also managed by program staff and volunteers. In addition, 500 animals were adopted to their forever families. (Less)
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
Community Program: At GPG, we firmly believe that every family should be able to have the companionship of a pet even if they have financial restrictions. 424 owned pets were spayed/neutered, 517 anim ... (More)
Community Program: At GPG, we firmly believe that every family should be able to have the companionship of a pet even if they have financial restrictions. 424 owned pets were spayed/neutered, 517 animals received life-saving vaccines and 464 animals receiv (Less)
Gateway Pet Guardians has earned a 85% for the Culture & Community beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableConstituent Feedback - Data Available - UnscoredConstituent Feedback - Data Available - Unscored
This organization reported that it is collecting feedback from the constituents and/or communities it serves. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective.
Who are the people you serve with your mission? Describe briefly.
Residents of the East St. Louis pet district
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Case management notes, Suggestion box/email, Other means
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Note: The organization reported no challenges faced.
Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.
We recently removed a required question about employment on our "become a pet foster" application because it was increasing the barrier to participation for community members
Equity Practices - Data Available - 85/100 ptsEquity Practices - Data Available - 85/100 pts
100% of beacon score
This organization's score of 85 is a passing score. The organization reported that it is implementing 5 Equity Practices. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective equity policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
Equity Practices (2/7) | |
|---|---|
We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race. | |
We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and/or portfolios. | |
We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization/'s programs, portfolios, and the populations served. | |
We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support. | |
We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders. | |
We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured | |
We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization. | |
Equity Policies and Procedures (3/7) | |
|---|---|
We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity. | |
We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions. | |
We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization. | |
We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board. | |
We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability. | |
We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team. | |
We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization. | |
Gateway Pet Guardians has earned a 100% for the Leadership & Adaptability beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableMission - 10/10 ptsMission - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission
The mission of Gateway Pet Guardians is to end homelessness for animals in the Metro East St Louis community through rescue, rehabilitation, adoption, and community outreach.
Vision - 10/10 ptsVision - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
We strive to create a community of healthy pets and empowered pet owners.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Goals - 20/20 ptsGoals - 20/20 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: in the past few years we have seen rapid growth and are now to the point of the goal of sustaining our current programs financially and with staff bandwidth
Goal Type: Focus on core programs to achieve mission and scale back on programs not seen as core.
Goal Two: We are planning for the maintenance and longevity of our building along with growing our donor base to invest for the long term.
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Goal Three: Exploring how to work with schools, considering how to create job training opportunities for the communities in our service area.
Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.
Leadership Development - 15/15 ptsLeadership Development - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
We believe in promoting from within and developing our staff whenever possible. We recently promoted our Program Director to Executive Director, Lead Animal Care Specialist to Shelter Manager and Customer Service Manager to Foster and Adoption Manager. All of these staff members are receiving continuing development to assist them with excelling as leaders as well are asked to find professional development opportunities for their staff. We also recently expanded our director's meeting to include manager level staff to give better growth and collaboration among our leaders.
Mobilizing for Mission - 15/15 ptsMobilizing for Mission - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
We participate in the St. Louis Pet Lover's Coalition, just did a large fundraiser with 16 other local animal welfare groups, participate in weekly American Pets Alive leadership calls, participate in monthly Executive Director roundtables with The Rome Group, currently have three interns with St. Louis Youth jobs and last year partnered with Lessie Bates and School District 189 to employee interns. Our Foster and Adoption Manager spoke at the Best Friends National Conference, we adopted a street in East St. Louis. We partner with several other local organizations for large scale trap, neuter, release efforts. We also have robust social media and marketing platforms.
Adaptability Story - 30/30 ptsAdaptability Story - 30/30 pts
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
The past couple years there has been a boom of pets in the US and veterinarians are still backed up from covid related closures, so the demand for veterinary care is at an all time high. Our community spay/neuter program took a hit when our grant funding ran out and the high volume spay neuter clinic we were partnering with could no longer provide the amount of appointments that we needed for community spay/neuter and our trap/neuter/release program. We had to hire a second staff veterinarian so that we could bring these essential programs in host to provide us with enough appointments and to make it more cost effective for us. We also saw a huge demand in intake needs for homeless pets and took in 35% more pets than the previous year and 100% more than 2019.
Impact & Results
Accountability & Finance
Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
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