Fifth Epochal Fellowship Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
366065800
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Reno, NV, USA
Phone
3034677858
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$616,101
Expenses
$414,494
Assets
$2,921,322
Liabilities
$23,953

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GEOFFREY THEISS (ASST SECRETARY/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • SUE SECCOMBE (PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID SCHLUNDT (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • GEOFFREY THEISS (ASST SECRETARY/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $73,750 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 fellowship is committed to the ideal of spiritual unity, which embraces religious freedom and diversity, as embodied in the teachings of the urantia book. Its focus is fellowship and the dissemination and study of the urantia book and its teachings.

What it reported doing in 2024

The urantia book fellowship focuses on the dissemination of the urantia book and bringing people together who read and believe in the book. The fellowships scholarly website serves 120,000 people per month, where the book in all formats, including audio, is made freely availaible to everyone. The fellowship emails a monthly newsletter to 8,000 subscribers and mails quality publications three times a year to 2,300 members and donors. The organization maintains an online directory of 350 acitve study groups and sponsors and participates in dozens of exhibitions and public gatherings each year, utilizing hundreds of volunteers to expose the book to thousands of potential readers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.2%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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 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: 32.7%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.05; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.8%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -17.6% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.2% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $371K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.