Children of Character Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 820541197
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Phone
- 9186079026
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Protestant
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $993,840
- Expenses
- $862,553
- Assets
- $762,295
- Liabilities
- $701
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jennifer Merryman (President and CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- James Saunders (Treasurer): $60,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Called to go to challenging places and unreached people. Children in Christ inspires, equips and mobilizes a God-grown indigenous ministry from local church to broader communities that values children, ministers Gods love to them, matures them in Christ and empowers them.
What it reported doing in 2024
Children in Christ inspires, equips and trains indigenous African church leaders and lay ministry volunteers in the importance of children and how to minister to them effectively. We train pastors and churches to understand that childen, who are 48% of the poplulation in Africa, are very important to God and shoud be very important to the church as well. Additionally, CIC emphasizes the importance of the local church reaching the unchurched childen and ministering Gods love to them. CIC provides interested pastors and churches with 5 days of childrens ministry vision and ministry trainings so that those churches can establish ministry to unchurched children in their proximate regions through childrens weekly clubs. In FY25, CIC inspired and mobilized indigenous ministry volunteers to minister in these clubs. Total participants trained in FY25 were 6,272 in which 838 pastors were trained and equipped for the ministry. 761 training events were held.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 90% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 57
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 93.6%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: $39.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 13.2%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 93.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $807K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 27 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 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: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.