Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264646842
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Exton, PA, USA
Phone
4843643453
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,171,468
Expenses
$2,583,486
Assets
$2,214,514
Liabilities
$45,494

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Daniel Celia (President and CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Daniel Celia (President and CEO): $219,875 total reported compensation
  • Yvonne Celia (Secretary): $51,480 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To aid in the proclamation of the Gospel through motivating God's people to invest in a biblically responsible way and give to the work of God.

What it reported doing in 2020

The Organization is a cooperative undertaking of local churches with shared doctrinal beliefs to aid in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through motivating God's people to exercise Biblically responsible financial stewardship. The Organization is ultimately organized to expose Jesus for all He is, all He can do, and what he means. The Organization believes that before financial stewardship, all Christians are called first to be stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Organization believes that one way of being faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is through the giving of financial resources so that these resources can be used to grow the Kingdom of God. The Organization's specific purpose is to benefit churches, ministries, individuals, and qualified charities by communicating the truths of stewardship and financial investment of God's money according to Scripture and God-honoring principles. The Organization operates a Christian broadcasting station, FISM.TV, and a radio ministry, which aim to serve as a resource for churches and their individual members, to aid them in understanding Christian principles about money, and to increase their knowledge and capabilities for handling money consistently with Biblical teachings. The Organization also aims to expose Jesus to non-believers. The Organization produces hours of original programming weekly, including Financial Issues, A Moment In History, and FISM News. These programs are designed to help listeners think biblically about their finances and how to use investments in a way that is honoring and pleasing to God, and to share about news stories from a Biblical worldview. Additionally, the Organization airs Christian programs developed by local cooperative churches.Ultimately, the Organization strives to educate churches, Christian organizations, and individuals in a clear, practical and unbiased manner so that Christians have a better understanding of their responsibility to handle their finances as wise stewards. The Association's prayer is that through its collaborative work with local churches, Christians will have a greater ability and desire to give to God's work.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 70.5%; rating input score 71; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.5%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.4% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $220K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2013 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.