Elam Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
582134253
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Alpharetta, GA, USA
Phone
7706648800
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,289,673
Expenses
$12,073,666
Assets
$3,464,356
Liabilities
$96,541

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Yeghnazar (President, Elam Ministries, Inc.)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Yeghnazar (President, Elam Ministries, Inc.): $177,188 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Elam's mission is to strengthen and expand the Persian-speaking church by training leaders for fruitful, effective ministry; equipping the Persian-speaking church with Bibles and resources for evangelism and discipleship; and sending the Gospel through trained evangelists, church-planters and the media.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, God continued to use Elam to strengthen and expand the church in the Iran region. Seventy-four new leaders graduated from our 3-month church-planting course, and over 2,100 believers received evangelism training. Around 800 church planters and Weekly Fellowship leaders nurtured fellowships across the region, supported by 52 weeks of tailored resources. More than 10,000 believers engaged with discipleship through the Safar journey, now available in 10 languages via an app, while the Kalameh app provided over 100,000 people access to digital resources . Scripture distribution remained a key f ocus, with 250,000 New Testaments sent to print and thousands more Gospels shared through trusted networks . Our women's ministry served over 1,000 participants , and 500+ men were equipped through conferences and training. Young people were discipled through sports, Sunday schools, and parent-and-toddler ministries, with over 700 youth taking part in church-led sports programs. In Europe, 2,550 Persian-speaking refugees were reached through evangelism, and 390 were discipled through online courses. Afghan ministry expanded through social media, with Dari content viewed over 1.5 million times, and dozens discipled through online and in-person initiatives. We also provided legal , pastoral, and practical aid to 69 persecuted believers and offered humanitarian relief to 697 families facing severe need .

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 66% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.3%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.4%; rating input score 99; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 12th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.3% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $177K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 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: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.