ECS Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010555559
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Dubuque, IA, USA
Phone
5635852070
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Religious Printing, Publishing
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$715,543
Expenses
$982,752
Assets
$1,466,747
Liabilities
$174,707

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Patrick Clough (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Patrick Clough (Executive Director): $81,683 total reported compensation
  • Karlyn Meng (Chief Financial Officer): $53,548 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To glorify God by providing biblically sound resources and structured study material to teach people from every nation to accept Christ as their Savior and Lord, grow in Christ, and share their faith with others.

What it reported doing in 2024

Worldwide Bible Study Ministry: Emmaus Worldwide develops and distributes Bible studies designed to deepen understanding of God's Word and encourage a faithful walk with Christ. With over 100 courses available in 86 languages and used in more than 110 countries, our studies foster connection and growth through personal mentorship. At the core of our ministry is a network of over 2,400 Emmaus mentors worldwide who correspond with students, offering encouragement and guidance on their journey with Christ. (Continue on Schedule O)In addition to our traditional paper-based correspondence study, our Emmaus Bible and Courses app provides many of these same studies digitally in more than 30 languages, allowing people to study Scripture wherever they are. In calendar year 2024, 1,408,448 paper courses were distributed in 123 countries. In calendar year 2024, 195,311 digital app courses were started in 198 countries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 71.4%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -37.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.49; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 71.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $701K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $82K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.