Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana, Inc.
Keeping families close
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana believes that no family should have to sleep in a hospital waiting room or, even worse, their car, when they travel to Louisville to seek healthcare for their seriously ill child. When families are far from home seeking medical care for their child, the cost of staying at a hotel for days, weeks, or months is often out of reach. Families stay free of charge at our Ronald McDonald House, and we take care of their essential needs so they can focus on what’s most important – the health, well-being, and healing process of their entire family.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Ronald McDonald House
Annually, our Ronald McDonald House provides temporary housing to more than 1,500 families of critically ill or injured children who have traveled to Louisville to access treatment not available in their hometowns. In addition to providing a place to sleep in one of our 56 private guestrooms with bathrooms, families have access to fully equipped kitchens, laundry facilities, and indoor and outdoor play areas. We have suites for children who are immune-suppressed and require isolation. The House is staffed 24/7 and the House Managers work closely with the treating hospital to ensure that the unique needs of each family are met during their stay. Families stay with us for an average of 8.5 nights. Families are able to stay at RMHCK without regards to financial means.
Ronald McDonald Family Rooms
When a child is critically ill, parents are reluctant to leave the hospital. However, they desperately need a break from the ongoing stress of beeping monitors, hospital lingo, and busy intensive care units.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana, with the help of the medical facilities, has set aside rooms intended to serve as a quiet rest area for family members of children being treated in those facilities.
Ronald McDonald Family Rooms are located at Norton Children’s Hospital, Frazier Rehab Institute and Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital. All services offered at these locations are free of charge.
Ronald McDonald House Hospitality Cart
For children and families at Norton Children’s Hospital, spotting the Ronald McDonald House Hospitality Cart coming down the hall means that comfort is only steps away. With snacks, beverages, small toys, and fun activities, our Hospitality Cart helps fill an empty stomach or bring a smile directly to children and their families. All children and families at the hospital, whether or not they are guests at our House, can enjoy the Hospitality Cart.
Where we work
Awards
Inc.credible Awards 2014
Chamber of Commerce
Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics 2019
Better Business Bureau
Health Care Heroes Award for Community Outreach Category 2019
Louisville Business First
Best Places to Work in Louisville 2020
Louisville Business First
Affiliations & memberships
Louisville Business First's Best Places to Work 2020
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of families who were able to be together during a critical time.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, People with diseases and illnesses
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1. Continuously Improve RMHCK's Core Services While Evaluating Opportunities to Expand Our Services.
RMHCK consistently measures the quality of its core services, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The organization annually sets goals for continuous improvement, opportunities to expand current services, and add new programs. Since 2003, the organization completed three Ronald McDonald House expansion projects and opened two new Ronald McDonald Family Rooms.
2. Effectively Support RMHCK's Human Resources – Including our Volunteers, Staff, and Board Members.
At RMHCK, our people are responsible for every accomplishment. Recruiting, training, recognizing and retaining top personnel as staff members, volunteers, and board members is critical to our past, current, and future success.
3. Maintain and Continuously Improve Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Room Facilities.
The organization prides itself on providing guest families with top-notch facilities, whether it is at Ronald McDonald House or any of the three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. Based on input from those served and local professionals, the organization creates both annual and strategic plans to maintain, improve, and upgrade the facilities.
4. Continue to Position RMHCK as the Premier Charitable Organization in the Kentuckiana Community.
RMHCK's reputation is paramount. Without it, the support necessary to operate programs would be lost. The organization operates with accountability and transparency, and all personnel are held to the highest professional, moral, and ethical standards. As a result, the Better Business Bureau has twice recognized RMHCK with its Torch Award for marketplace ethics.
5. Secure the Near and Long Term Financial Viability of RMHCK.
Through diligent fiscal management from the staff, Finance Committee, and Board of Directors, RMHCK maintains a strong financial position, even during a weak economy. Past trends and future hospital projections indicated the need to expand the Ronald McDonald House significantly. RMHCK must ensure it has the financial resources to meet our future needs.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Capacity Expansion - RMHCK underwent a major expansion and renovation that grew RMCHK from 36 guestrooms to 56. The expansion was completed March 2020.
2. The Personnel Committee agrees to the following:
Review staff compensation and create/update ranges for all staff positions, including benefits.
Create Staffing Structure for an expanded Ronald McDonald House.
Continue to provide for ongoing training and development of staff, volunteers, committees and Board members.
Continue to identify diverse candidates for open staff, board and committee positions.
Succession planning for committee and board members.
3. The House Operations Committee and Finance Committee will lead the following:
Update annual and long-term budget projections based on reserve study.
Annually update RMHCK's business continuity and disaster recovery plans.
4. The Executive Committee will lead the following:
Enhance relationship with key area hospitals.
Preserve and improve strong relationship with friends from McDonald's Restaurants of Kentuckiana.
Preserve and improve strong relationship with friends from Norton Hospital, Frazier Rehab Institute, and Kosair Charities.
Communication with guest families to leverage their talents and connections to benefit RMHCK.
Leverage business and community leadership relationships in the areas where our families live.
Enhance program to market and publicize RMHCK events.
5. Led by various Board Committees:
Implement a specific communications plan for donors including ongoing contact with all donors (past and present) and asking current donors to engage their friends and family.
Continue to manage the short and mid-term budget with fiscal responsibility.
Launch a comprehensive planned giving program.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
RMHCK has various resources to bolster the strategic efforts described above.
RMHC Global is the “parent" organization for all RMHC chapters. It is a source for professional development training, education, branding, marketing, and ensures operations are ethical, efficient, transparent, and follow standard operating procedures.
RMHCK carefully selects its Board of Directors members from the local community to counsel, govern, and perform duties to sustain the mission of the organization. All new board members receive a comprehensive RMHCK orientation and the requirement to serve on a committee and contribute a monetary donation to the organization.
McDonald's Restaurants of Kentuckiana is the cooperative group of franchise owners and corporate-owned restaurants. They have a personal and professional commitment to the success of RMHCK, their charity of choice. The local Co-Op goes above and beyond expectations in all manners of their support for RMHCK.
While multiple healthcare providers refer families to RMHCK, Norton Hospital and Frazier Rehab Institute are annual major partners with the organization. They remain dedicated to ensuring their patients will benefit from the positive impact of our programs, improving their patients' lives and well-being.
Each member of the RMHCK team is a professional in his or her respective fields. The organization hires staff based on education, training, and experience and determines how these qualities will align with the successful delivery of our programs and responsible administration of the organization. Annually, the staff successfully identifies new donors and volunteers while retaining key stakeholders – some who have been involved from the beginning. As a member of the local community for almost 37 years, RMHCK has created a history of success and progress, earned an ethical reputation of accountability, and been able to offer families quality programs and services.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
RMHCK has successfully completed multiple program and facility expansions, including three Ronald McDonald House expansions (in 2003, 2009, and 2020) and the opening of three Ronald McDonald Family Room Programs. These expansions have significantly increased our capacity to serve families and the types of services and programs we provide families.
Despite having a small staff, RMHCK has recruited and retained staff members, with limited staff turnover. Additionally, several staff members have grown into positions of higher responsibility.
RMHCK is currently identifying and planning new programs and services that will be offered to families since the completion of the expansion.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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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, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 02/06/2024
Mr. Sam Castle
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/26/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- 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 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.
- 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 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.