Behind the Wire Ministries Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 843845980
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2021
- Location
- Loogootee, IN, USA
- Phone
- 8126983218
- Rating
- 45
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $959,420
- Expenses
- $439,216
- Assets
- $864,544
- Liabilities
- $332,092
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Scott Highberger (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Scott Highberger (President): $16,000 total reported compensation
- Dannielle Highberger (Treasurer/Secretary): $8,731 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is go behind the wire and enable prisoners to discover the path to true freedom in Christ. As a ministry, we believe that true restoration begins through uncovering and addressing the unhealthy cycles simultaneously replacing them new habits based on the word.
What it reported doing in 2025
Our mission is to go befind the wire and enable prisoners to discover the path to true freedom in Christ. As a ministry, we believe that true restoration begins through uncovering and addressing the unhealthy cycles simultaneously replacing them with new habits based on the word of God.Consquently, what you repeat grows stronger, the stronger culture wins. Behind the Wire Ministries will attempt to accomplish this by developing solutions in the areas of ministry programs and volunteer programs while sharing and living out the gospel of Christ. Our desire is to see lives transformed and create hope for the future.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 6
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 70
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 5.2%; rating input score 5
- Program expense ratio: 11.4%; rating input score 11
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 54.2%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.97; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -7.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 58.2% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 30.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 5.2% of revenue deployed · 11.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
- Leadership: top reported pay $16K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 11 of 13 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 5/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 11/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.