Covenant Journey

Legal name: Covenant Journey Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474018783
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2017
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Orlando, FL, US
Phone
407-875-1967
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Interfaith Coalitions
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$766,005
Expenses
$798,790
Assets
$18,927
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mathew Staver (President/Chairman)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mathew Staver (President/Chairman): $288,041 total reported compensation
  • Anita Staver (Director): $167,903 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Covenant Journey offers life-changing travel experiences in the Holy Land for Christian college-age students and groups, aiming to strengthen faith and bring the Bible to life.

What it reported doing in 2017

(See Schedule O for description.)The Organization's primary activity is the operation of the Covenant Journey immersive tour and educational program ("the Tour") in Israel. The Tour provides participants with a spiritually enriching experience that deepens and strengthens their Christian faith and equips participants to understand and appreciate the unique role of Israel in biblical history as well as its unique present and future significance. The program provides about 60-hours of onsite education.The Tour is unlike any other, as it is designed specifically to motivate participants who have leadership potential to discover and affirm their Christian faith and identity through an experiential journey and educational experience of biblical, historic, and modern Israel, providing participants with the ability to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of Israel's biblical significance and become advocates for Israel and the Jewish people. Students from over 300 colleges and universities have participated including Christian, private, public, and Ivy League schools.The Organization maintains a continued relationship with participants in order to foster continued spiritual growth and education. The Organization also provides networking and internship opportunities for former participants in the United States, Israel, and around the world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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.
  • 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 filed governance safeguards are in place. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 40
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.6%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -4.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.02; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -17.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -22% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -92.8% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $796K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $288K · 4 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $271K reported
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2016 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 7 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.