Focused Living Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571028417
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbia, SC, USA
Phone
8039171455
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Protestant
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$358,031
Expenses
$337,251
Assets
$489,384
Liabilities
$5,231

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Andes (President)
  • German Wright (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Andes (President): $84,100 total reported compensation
  • Jason Yarborough (Treasurer): $73,349 total reported compensation
  • Karl Reed (Ministry Assoc): $66,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ministry. Focused Living Ministries exists to help men become so Focused on Christ that they are Living for Christ.

What it reported doing in 2024

Approximately 400 men are in some way involved in the ministries of Focused Living Ministries. There are 8 men's leadership forums meeting weekly around the city of Columbia, SC. There are over 150 men involved in the GRIP discipleship ministry. The staff of Focused Living trains, counsels and coaches men, couples and church leaders throughout Columbia, SC, the United States, and internationally. The staff are regularly involved in teaching and preaching and perform ministerial functions of weddings, funerals, communion, hospital visitations, etc. The staff writes materials annually for training and evangelism that are distributed nationwide.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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

SUPPORTED - 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 a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 38
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 99.9%; rating input score 100
  • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 5.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.45; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 77.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.7% of revenue deployed · 99.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $337K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $84K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.