Mission: The Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County (HAWS), established in 1965, is an open admissions shelter that leads the community in animal welfare and offers ... (More)
Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 1968, and donations are tax-deductible.
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Contact Information
701 Northview Road
Waukesha WI 53188
Mail donations to:
P.O. Box 834
Waukesha WI 53187
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Star Rating System by Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator evaluates a nonprofit organization’s financial health including measures of stability, efficiency and sustainability. We also track accountability and transparency policies to ensure the good governance and integrity of the organization.
Exceptional
This charity's score is 95.24, earning it a 4-Star rating. Donors can "Give with Confidence" to this charity.
This score is calculated from two sub-scores:
Finance: 93.28 View details
Accountability & Transparency: 100.00 View details
This score represents Form 990 data from 2020, the latest year published by the IRS.
View this organization’s historical ratings.
Star Rated Report
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Program Expense Ratio
79.0%
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. Dividing a charity's average program expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Administrative Expenses
9.5%
As reported by charities on their IRS Form 990, this measure reflects what percent of its total budget a charity spends on overhead, administrative staff and associated costs, and organizational meetings. Dividing a charity's average administrative expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Expenses
11.4%
This measure reflects what a charity spends to raise money. Fundraising expenses can include campaign printing, publicity, mailing, and staffing and costs incurred in soliciting donations, memberships, and grants. Dividing a charity's average fundraising expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Liabilities to Assets Ratio
2.6%
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990).
Part of our goal in rating the financial performance of charities is to help donors assess the financial capacity and sustainability of a charity. As do organizations in other sectors, charities must be mindful of their management of total liabilites in relation to their total assets. This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and or long term sustainability. Dividing a charity's total liabilities by its total assets yields this percentage.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Efficiency
$0.15
The amount spent to raise $1 in charitable contributions. To calculate a charity's fundraising efficiency, we divide its average fundraising expenses by the average total contributions it receives. We calculate the charity's average expenses and average contributions over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Working Capital Ratio
3.16 years
Determines how long a charity could sustain its level of spending using its net available assets, or working capital, as reported on its most recently filed Form 990. We include in a charity's working capital unrestricted and temporarily restricted net assets, and exclude permanently restricted net assets. Dividing these net available assets in the most recent year by a charity's average total expenses, yields the working capital ratio. We calculate the charity's average total expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Growth
11.19%
We compute the average annual growth of program expenses using the following formula: [(Yn/Y0)(1/n)]-1, where Y0 is a charity's program expenses in the first year of the interval analyzed, Yn is the charity's program expenses in the most recent year, and n is the interval of years passed between Y0 and Yn.
Source: IRS Form 990
Governance
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has these governance practices in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990
| Governance: | |
|---|---|
| Independent Voting Board Members ... (More) | |
| No Material Diversion of Assets ... (More) A diversion of assets – any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft – can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity. We check the charity's last two Forms 990 to see if the charity has reported any diversion of assets. If the charity does report a diversion, then we check to see if it complied with the Form 990 instructions by describing what happened and its corrective action. This metric will be assigned to one of the following categories:
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| Audited Financials Prepared by Independent Accountant ... (More) Audited financial statements provide important information about financial accountability and accuracy. They should be prepared by an independent accountant with oversight from an audit committee. (It is not necessary that the audit committee be a separate committee. Often at smaller charities, it falls within the responsibilities of the finance committee or the executive committee.) The committee provides an important oversight layer between the management of the organization, which is responsible for the financial information reported, and the independent accountant, who reviews the financials and issues an opinion based on its findings. We check the charity's Form 990 reporting to see if it meets this criteria.
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| Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From Related Parties ... (More) | |
| Documents Board Meeting Minutes ... (More) | |
| Distributes 990 to Board Before Filing ... (More) | |
| Compensates Board ... (More) |
Policies
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization has these policies in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Policies: | |
|---|---|
| Conflict of Interest ... (More) | |
| Whistleblower ... (More) | |
| Records Retention and Destruction ... (More) | |
| CEO Compensation Process ... (More) | |
| Donor Privacy ... (More) Donors can be reluctant to contribute to a charity when their name, address, or other basic information may become part of donor lists that are exchanged or sold, resulting in an influx of charitable solicitations from other organizations. Our analysts check the charity's website to see if the organization has a donor privacy policy in place and what it does and does not cover. Privacy policies are assigned to one of the following categories:
The privacy policy must be specific to donor information. A general website policy which references "visitor" or "user" personal information will not suffice. A policy that refers to donor information collected on the website is also not sufficient as the policy must be comprehensive and applicable to both online and offline donors. The existence of a privacy policy of any type does not prohibit the charity itself from contacting the donor for informational, educational, or solicitation purposes. (Less) |
Transparency
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization makes this information easily accessible.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Transparency: | |
|---|---|
| CEO Salary Listed on 990 ... (More) | |
| Board of Directors Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Key Staff Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Audited Financial Statements on Website ... (More) | |
| Form 990 Available on Website ... (More) |
Additional Information
Unscored
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Total Revenue and Expenses
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Salary of Key Persons
Presented here are this organizations key compensated staff members as identified by our analysts. 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
Lynn Olenik, Executive Director
$100,057 (2.88% of Total Expenses)
Current CEO and Board Chair can be found in the Leadership & Adaptability report below.
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2021
Business Master File Data
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:
Prevention of cruelty to animals (BMF activity code: 913)
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)
Data Sources: IRS Forms 990
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 view this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available).
Pandemic Response
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. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
Fundraising Capacity
Revenue
Staffing
Administrative Capacity
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Education and Behavior: HAWS had to suspend all in-person training classes due to COVID-19 for 10 weeks. Delayed start, reduced attendance at 2020 summer camps and cancellation of a spring seminar. Total revenue loss: $80,000. Adoptions/Surrenders/Safe Keep: The population of animals in our shelter was reduced to about 25% of normal for several months in 2020. Revenue loss: >$56,000. However, as an emergency open admission animal shelter, HAWS is staffed. HAWS operates a Safe Keep program to provide care for owned pets when pet parents experience displacement of their living arrangements due to illness or disaster. Length of stay doubled in 2020. Increased costs of $12,000. SNIP clinic: Our veterinary clinic had to suspend all options for several months. Revenue loss: $60,000. Fundraising: Several large fundraising events had to be canceled. Reduction in public support by $180,000. Added together, HAWS experienced a >$398,000 drop in revenue & donations due to the pandemic.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
Training classes had to be canceled for over 8 weeks. Education camps and seminars were either canceled or delayed. The SNIP clinic was unable to operate for several months. Shelter access to the public was, and still is, limited. Usage and length of stay for our Safe Keep program doubled. Several education offerings for school programs had to be canceled or converted to a virtual presentation.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
We expanded our offerings for virtual training classes, and accommodated those clients who needed to reschedule due to exposure concerns and/or COVID positivity. Education offerings were adapted to be presented virtually to reach students who were learning virtually. For several months, the shelter operated in shifts that were kept apart so that there were limits on exposure.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
Adaptation of our education programs to virtual offerings will be kept along side in-person options. We will also keep expanding our virtual training class programs.
Historical Ratings
| Date Published | Form 990 FYE | Overall Score | Overall Rating |
| Rating Version: 2.1 | |||
| 2/1/2022 | 2020 | 95.24 | |
| 3/1/2021 | 2019 | 93.52 | |
| 7/1/2020 | 2018 | 93.36 | |
| 7/1/2019 | 2018 | 89.77 |  |
This organization received multiple star ratings within this fiscal year, due to an update to its Accountability and Transparency data and/or the receipt of an amended Form 990. | |||
| 8/1/2018 | 2017 | 89.00 | |
| 8/1/2017 | 2016 | 88.13 | |
| 6/1/2016 | 2015 | 88.09 | |
| Rating Version: 2.0 | |||
| 9/1/2015 | 2014 | 82.84 | |
| 6/1/2014 | 2013 | 88.85 | |
| 6/1/2013 | 2012 | 88.53 | |
Previous: Finance & Accountability / Next: Leadership & Adaptability
Impact & Results
This score estimates the actual impact a nonprofit has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Impact & Results Score
Not Currently Scored
Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County cannot currently be evaluated by our Encompass Rating Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Do you work at Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County? Join the waitlist for an updated Impact & Results score.
Additional Information
Unscored
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Largest Programs
Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County reported its two largest programs on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
$2,054,578
Spent in most recent FY
76%
Percent of program expenses
Spay Neuter Clinic and Rescue Team Program
$635,619
Spent in most recent FY
23%
Percent of program expenses
Education
Previous: Impact & Results / Next: Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
This score 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.
Leadership & Adaptability Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County is a passing score. This score has no effect on the organization's Star Rating.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of the organization's Leadership & Adaptability through the nonprofit organization submitting a survey response directly to Charity Navigator.
Leadership & Adaptability Report
100
of 100 points
Mission
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s mission
The Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County (HAWS), established in 1965, is an open admissions shelter that leads the community in animal welfare and offers sanctuary for animals in need. We envision a community where all animals are treated with compassion, dignity, and respect. HAWS invites the public to join us in our cause to spread humane sentiments (kindness, compassion, empathy) throughout our community for the betterment of animals and people alike. HAWS operates an innovative, solution oriented animal shelter which serves as the primary pet and education resource center in Waukesha County and the State of Wisconsin.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Vision
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
We believe that the care of the community's animals is not limited to only those animals that reside within our walls but also to all animals in our community. For that reason, we actively seek out and embrace all people in our community, being ever diligent in inviting them to join the HAWS cause. We will help more people by helping people help animals.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Strategic Goals
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Lead in educational and collaborative initiatives to promote a shared responsibility in a “Humane Animal Welfare Society” where people respect and care for all animals.
Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.
Goal Two: Strengthen and expand programs and services to deliver our mission.
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Three: Innovate to grow financial resources. Strengthen donor cultivation to achieve our mission – driven outcome goals
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Leadership Development
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
Describe an investment in leadership
Succession planning is a priority for the orginzation at this time. Key management staff have been provided with mentors both inside and outside the organization. With the support of HAWS, staff have completed certifications in non-profit accounting principles and human resources. One of our full-time veterinarians has, with full HAWS support, begun a master’s program in shelter medicine operations.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Mobilizing for Mission
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Raising Awareness
Community Building
What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?
HAWS enjoys strong relationships with our community first responders who identify and refer people in the community in need of HAWS services. Our ties in the community include our Mobile Pet Pantry, which provides pet food and supplies to those in need, and Mobile Adoption Unit, which focuses on placing pets in forever homes. Both also provide education about all HAWS’ services and are instrumental in placing and keeping pets in homes. Furthermore, we assist with animal behavior courses at a local university, often providing shelter animals that students with which students can practice training techniques, and host multiple interns from this university each year. Finally, our children’s education programs have gone virtual when we couldn’t visit schools due to the pandemic.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Story of Adaptability
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HAWS expanded our Safe Keep program, which houses and cares for owned pets while their owners cannot care for them due to illness or housing displacement. Use of this program increased, and animals have stayed longer due the owner illness. HAWS also initiated both an on-site and a mobile Pet Pantry to provide pet food and supplies to those in need. Both the Safe Keep expansion and Pet Pantry were largely funded through grant dollars, and the Pet Pantry receives donations from local businesses and community members. Furthermore, both our education programs and training classes adapted to the pandemic by creating virtual options, which allowed us to keep connections with both children/youth and training class students during the pandemic. We have found these virtual options provide an additional source of outreach to the community, and so are continuing to provide these options going forward, even as we return to in-person opportunities.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Additional Information
Unscored
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Organization Leadership
Lynn Olenik
Executive Director
Bill Stone
President
Previous: Leadership & Adaptability
Culture & Community
This score provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves. Learn more about how and why we rate Culture & Community.
Culture & Community Score
100
out of 100
Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County has earned a passing score. This score has no effect on the organization's Star Rating. The organization provided data about how it listens to constituents (Constituent Feedback) (see report below).
The Culture & Community Beacon is comprised of the following metrics:
Constituent Feedback: 100/100 (100% of beacon score)
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: Not Scored
Culture & Community Report
100
of 100 points
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Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
This organization has not provided information regarding the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices it is presently implementing. As such, the organization has not earned a score on this metric. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective DEI policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
Methodology
We are utilizing data collected by Candid to document and assess the DEI practices implemented by the organization. Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to fill out the Equity Strategies section of their Candid profiles to receive a rating.
Learn more about the methodology.
Constituent Feedback
Constituent Feedback and Listening Practice data are not available for this organization. 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.
Methodology
We've partnered with Candid to survey organizations about their feedback practices. Nonprofit organizations can fill out the How We Listen section of their Candid profile to receive a rating.
Learn more about the methodology.
Analysis and Research
Like the overall Encompass Rating System, the Culture & Community Beacon is designed to evolve as metrics are developed and ready for integration. Below you can find more information about the metrics we currently evaluate in this beacon and their relevance to nonprofit performance.
Constituent Feedback
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
