Bible Thinker Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 850908038
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Bellflower, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5626762491
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religious Media, Communications
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $891,770
- Expenses
- $650,731
- Assets
- $2,017,591
- Liabilities
- $600
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Michael Winger (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Michael Winger (President): $164,792 total reported compensation
- Allison Winger (Treasurer): $91,956 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Bible Thinker, Inc is a ministry dedicated to equipping people to think and live biblically. There are three main areas of teaching that we focus on:1. Teaching accurate theology based on exegeting the text of the Bible and confronting false teachings which spread so quickly and easily in a biblically unaware world. This is done both topically and systematically teaching the Bible. 2. Defending the biblical-Christian worldview and answering skeptics. This is done both through topical videos and as issues arise in the text of a verse by verse teaching. 3. Applying the Bible so that we can become true followers of Jesus in not only thinking right but living right. God's word has more to say about how we are to live than most people realize - this ministry hopes to show people the vast riches of the Bible which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
What it reported doing in 2025
Bible Thinker continues to provide free teaching content to people around the world through YouTube, Instagram, various podcast platforms, radio stations, and Biblethinker.org. In 2025 people spent over 13 million hours watching our content just on YouTube. The recent work we've done on Cover-up Culture has brought many victims to us and we've been able to care for them not only in telling their stories and standing up against corrupt leaders as 1 Timothy 5:20 demands but also in sponsoring many people for spiritual abuse recovery sessions and helping protect against ungodly attacks by paying for legal consultations. By God's grace real change is beginning to happen in churches all over the place, as "Cover-up Culture" is now being acknowledged and many people are repenting, even if some of the leaders who are being exposed are not. We're praying this helps churches to think biblically about accountability.In prior generations it would have been impossible to freely distribute Christian video content into peoples hands and across the world like this or to run a ministry with such a wide reach while also maintaining relatively low expenses. It is truly a remarkable time we live in and we're grateful for the open door the Lord has given us.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 78
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 69
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 52.7%; rating input score 53
- Program expense ratio: 72.2%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $49.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 88%; rating input score 88; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 27%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.1; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 39.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 30% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 28.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 52.7% of revenue deployed · 72.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $470K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 5 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.