Fathers in the Field

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364646269
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
3078510217
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,729,893
Expenses
$1,584,171
Assets
$2,928,480
Liabilities
$8,609

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN SMITHBAKER (PRESIDENT)
  • KYLE WEAVER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN SMITHBAKER (PRESIDENT): $109,200 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To rekindle and establish the spirit of boys who have been abandoned by their fathers; mentoring them one-on-one in life skills through outdoor activities, and by sharing a christian understanding of our heavenly father's love and sacrifice for his children.

What it reported doing in 2025

Steady national expansion continues with the fathers in the field equipping ministry. We are engaged in 36 states with over 500 churches and have raised 10 full-time missionaries who are working with local churches to equip them to start a mentoring ministry for fatherless boys and to be a voice for fatherless across this nation. The ministry was established to actively address broken hearts, share the need for forgiveness, and help stop the cycle of abandonment and destruction that occurs in the nearly 25 million fatherless children under the age of 18. We focus on three critical objectives in reaching and rescuing fatherless boys as we mobilize 6,000 volunteer hours per church helping their community. Train and equip local churches: regional field missionaries engage the local churches to provide methodology, materials, training and coaching, and encouragement to inspire the church staff and congregation and to reach out to single mothers who have sons in the community. Intentional mentoring: the power of this ministry is getting men in the church to invest in a 3-year mentoring commitment into one boy's life of discipleship, character development, and healing through the holy spirit. Single mother outreach: we inspire and equip the local church to be proactive in reaching out to single mothers to help with their children and the family through the services of the local church.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 92.4%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 15th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.4%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.85; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85% of revenue deployed · 92.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.