Covenant Network of Presbyterians

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943356039
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2021, Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
8166051031
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Protestant
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$188,477
Expenses
$172,312
Assets
$95,482
Liabilities
$5,785

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Brian Ellison (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Brian Ellison (Executive Director)
  • Laura Viau (Secretary)
  • Chad Andrew Herring (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Confident in God's hopeful future and grateful for the ever-widening welcome of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Covenant Network of Presbyterians seeks an equity still not fully realized for LGBTQIA+ people in church and society by engaging, educating, and equipping the church. The Covenant Network of Presbyterians calls the church to bear a unified witness to generous hospitality and faithful justice.

What it reported doing in 2025

Since our founding in 1997, we have worked for transformation in church and society. In 2025, we continued and expanded that work in new and exciting ways: (1) We inaugurated our new Covenant Fellows program, a cohort-based leadership development initiative designed to equip emerging leaders across the PC(USA) for sustained, effective LGBTQIA+ inclusion ministry. (2) We continued to expand our signature Covenant Conversation program, gathering cross-sections of congregations in partnership with presbyteries, bringing worship, training, and facilitated discussions. (3) We preached and taught in churches all over the country. (4) We produced resources, alone and in partnership with others, for congregations' use in expanding their welcome to people of diverse gender identities, enhancing their worship, and navigating difficult conversations. (5) We supported institutional efforts to seek justice and inclusion in ecclesiastical settings, including work with presbyteries and entities of the General Assembly. (6) We fielded urgent requests and calls for support from pastors, candidates, presbytery leaders, and denominational officials, all seeking our resources, wisdom, and experience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.4%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 64.6%; rating input score 65

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.6%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.9% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.4% of revenue deployed · 64.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $111K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.