Benedictine Fellowship of St Laurence
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 201937198
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Fort Collins, CO, USA
- Phone
- 9702312700
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $360,959
- Expenses
- $268,604
- Assets
- $3,071,017
- Liabilities
- $1,176
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- FR JOHN CONNELY (President)
People named in this filing
- FR JOHN CONNELY (President)
- WILLIAM M BANTA (Secretary)
- JOHN FISCUS (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The purpose of the organization is to bring men and women to faith in jesus christ through the scriptural rule of st. Benedict. In order to accomplish this purpose, the organization will offer spiritual retreats of one or several days in duration under the direction of qualified clergy or monastics. These retreats will be offered on property located in fremont county, Colorado; the organization also provides a campus for the foundation of at least one benedictine rule monastery following the rule of st. Benedict on this same property. The monastery of our lady and st. Laurence, established in 2013, operates within the bfsl and has fr. Theodore phillips as its abbot. The organization's mission also includes an icon studio for producing suitable devotional art for churches and individuals and a modern scriptorium for the composition of liturgical books for the use of churches. Lancelot andrewes press operates within the bfsl as a source for icons and liturgical books.
What it reported doing in 2025
The organization's three largest program services are accomplished in the areas of the monastery, lancelot andrews press and the st. Laurence cemetery and st. Sophia mausoleum. The monastery income and expense is related to the ongoing life of the monastery, it's resident monks, its visitors and the scheduled retreats hosted there. The lancelot andrews press publishes and sells spiritual books and icons related to the organization's mission. The st. Laurence cemetery and st. Sophiamausoleum provide economic burial spaces and services for the dead.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and assets have declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 77
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 25.6%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.43; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $249K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.