Episcopal Church Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131776448
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
8006972858
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,201,683
Expenses
$4,624,748
Assets
$874,066,818
Liabilities
$814,870,039

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dail St Claire (President)
  • Donald Romanik (President (part year))

Highest reported compensation

  • Donald Romanik (President (part year)): $368,794 total reported compensation
  • Craig Bossi (VP of Finance & COO): $248,432 total reported compensation
  • Carsten Sierck (Managing Program Director): $235,080 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) is an independent, lay led organization that helps congregations and other Episcopal groups develop leadership and raise financial resources for ministry. ECF's practical, innovative, and spiritually grounded programs, products and services include endowment management services, planned giving and annual stewardship support, leadership resource development, the fellowship partners program, and web based resources and publications. ECF is also involved in a variety of collaborative projects and partnerships to provide new kinds of solutions to help address the changing needs of the Episcopal Church.

What it reported doing in 2024

Adaptive Ministries - The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) understands that church leaders must be fully equipped with effective resources. ECF's comprehensive visioning, training and information resources help empower lay and ordained leaders with the tools they need to strengthen and grow their congregations, including publications, web-based resources (ECF Vital Practices), and other collaborative leadership initiatives. ECF consulting services assist dioceses and congregations in making strategic decisions in a practical and spiritually grounded way. Additionally, through the Fellowship Partners program, ECF supports Episcopal scholars leaders pursuing advanced academic degrees and individuals involved in transformational ministries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.3%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 72.6%; rating input score 73; 19th 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.1%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 189; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.93; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.3% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $369K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $384K reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 41 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 10 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.