Emmaus Institute for Biblical Studies
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 831313821
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Lincoln, NE, United States
- Phone
- (402) 327-1671
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religion Related N.E.C.
- Affiliation
- Religious (unspecified)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $455,400
- Expenses
- $465,729
- Assets
- $70,587
- Liabilities
- $803
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CHAD STEINER (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JOSHUA BURKS (PAST PRESIDE): $64,167 total reported compensation
- THOMAS LALLY (PAST TREASUR): $43,739 total reported compensation
- DR VERNON STEINER (PAST PRESIDE): $11,375 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Emmaus Institute for Biblical Studies exists to promote the vision of a biblically literate community of God’s people, enkindled with the knowledge and love of Christ, through a deepening understanding of Scripture and its centrality in the life and liturgy of the Church. Following Joshua’s death, the book of Judges is a tragic chapter in the history of God’s people; for despite their promise to love and obey the LORD, they in fact abandon him and begin to worship other gods. Judges recounts the cyclical pattern of Israel to display faithfulness under a chosen leader for a short time, only to fall astray all over again after the leader, or judge, dies. The stories in Judges, even the downright chilling ones, illustrate what happens when people have no _king_ but themselves, when everyone does what is right in his or her own eyes. In this way, the book of Judges helps us look to...
What it reported doing in 2025
The organization provides adult education focused on the reading and study of the bible to all christians, both catholic and non-catholic. Teaching includes in-person and online classes, seminars, retreats, training, and presentations at parishes, catholic schools, and other locations throughout the lincoln diocese and beyond. The signature program is a 3-year certificate program covering the entire bible. Students who have completed the program testify to its faith-building, life-transforming, and worship- inspiring impact.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 65% 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 available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 54
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.7%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 73%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 55.6%; rating input score 56; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.3%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 28.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 74.7% of revenue deployed · 73% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $340K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $64K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 56/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.