Evangelical Center for Spiritual Wisdom

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271133286
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Plano, TX, USA
Phone
2149194145
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$253,106
Expenses
$257,552
Assets
$113,449
Liabilities
$50

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DEBBIE SWINDOLL (FOUNDER & PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHELLEY HUDSON (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $24,000 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 help disciples of jesus christ become increasingly like him and assist other religious organizations in the achievement of similar purposes.

What it reported doing in 2024

Program #2 - CSDA is our spiritual directors association. We are seeing strong growth, with 1330 members representing 48 states in the U.S. and 21 additional countries. We have continued our online delivery of professional development to our spiritual directors throughout the year, including opportunities for member soul care called Community Life Events. We were once again able to host our annual in-person gathering in February 2025 for those association members who were able to travel and meet in person. Our annual in-person gatherings are a source of ministry and encouragement for those attending. Due to the nature of spiritual direction, this type of work can have an isolating effect. Our gathering provides a much-needed source of community and relational support for those on the front lines of caring for others. The 2025 Gathering attendance was 95.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -1.8%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.1% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $228K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $24K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.