Abiding Fathers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900662615
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Plano, TX, USA
Phone
2145337899
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$240,727
Expenses
$425,447
Assets
$66,394
Liabilities
$3,494

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RAFAEL GUTIERREZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • RAFAEL GUTIERREZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $109,152 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Encouraging, equipping and engaging men in developing their god-ordained leadership role as fathers in order to make disciples for the gospel of jesus christ.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fathering 101, including fathers forums: abiding fathers' resources, including the booksfrom faith to faith and herramientas de papa (the dad's toolbox), introduce men to thebible's perspective of fatherhood, and provide tools, resources, community, and lots ofencouragement and support to encourage, equip, and engage men to be the dad godcreated them to be. Abiding fathers also pursues discipleship relationships in the northtexas homeless community, men of nehemiah, local prisons, and more. In addition, mature fathers participate in facilitator training to become certified small-group facilitatorsthat will disciple other men within their organizations and/or communities. Over 100 menfrom the homeless community were discipled through the abiding fathers' curriculum atunion gospel mission. Currently, there are several prison units that are in some wayparticipating in equipping incarcerated fathers.fathers forums are typically breakfast or lunch meetings in intimate settings for 10 to 30men across the dfw metroplex to gather, hear a testimony or teaching by a father relatingto family and fatherhood, and participate in discussions related to the message. Currently, there is one fathers forum meeting in the dfw area. Messages from this fathers forum atnorthwest bible church are recorded and posted on our website and dierent social mediaplatforms for online access by many other fathers.4 men in honduras took part in a test group for the new facilitator training program (ftp)from october to december. This model emphasizes quality over quantityaiming todevelop a few dedicated facilitators capable of leading impactful discipleship groups. Themen had a discipleship experience as they met together over the 3 months, serving as amodel for leading their own discipleship groups. This key component was missing fromprevious large group weekend training & as a result, those facilitators didn't bear fruit byfacilitating discipleship groups. This test group proved it was possible to build relationshipsand provide follow-up that ensures ongoing support without having to travel to anothercountry or area. The model leverages online training, reducing costs and extending theprogram's reach without travel, saving financial resources and time. It prepares the way forour new discipleship group program (dgp) launching in 2025 that is easily implemented bycertified facilitators and designed to transform the common man into a biblical father andleader of his family, who is meaningfully connected and involved with his wife & children.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 86.6%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -76.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $369K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.