Desiring God

Overview

Mission

Joy is not optional. It’s essential. We have a team of teachers who proclaim and communicate biblical truth, shaped and guided by our Christian Hedonistic theology and values. We seek to advance our mission by deploying our team in a coordinated strategy through an array of mediums, including preaching and teaching, book and article writing, and podcasts and interviews. Our team of teachers gladly affirms and teaches our Desiring God Affirmation of Faith, and we aim for all our resources to be grounded in, governed by, and saturated with the infallible Christian Scriptures. We believe that the most important things we teach are the truths that never change. We also wrestle with the particular needs and challenges of our day — t.

Operating model

Revenue model

Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.

Distribution model

Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

• Financial Efficiency: 80
• Transparency & Controls: 73
• Accountability: 70
• Sustainability: 33
• Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Details

• What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
• Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
• Governance: 4 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
• Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.5M in reported program spending
• Leadership: top reported pay $290K · 16 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
• Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $804K reported
• Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
• Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
• Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
• Contacts: How to reach this organization
• Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
• Related organizations: 2 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.
• Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

• Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 57/100.
• High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
• Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
• High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
• Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
• High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.