Freedom Lake Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812739074
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Louisville, KY, USA
Phone
5029312965
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$647,813
Expenses
$685,298
Assets
$3,061,293
Liabilities
$2,757,716

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mr Anthony Cash (Board Chair and President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mr Anthony Cash (Board Chair and President): $80,100 total reported compensation
  • Ms Kim Cash (Chief Operating Officer): $60,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Freedom Lake exists to help men be freed from old habits or destructive patterns of addiction and the revolving door of the prison system teaching them to become Jesus' disciples who multiply the Kingdom of God.

What it reported doing in 2025

Freedom Lake Ministries is led through the ministry of Tony and Kim Cash in serving those incarcerated in a halfway house (a prison with 328 beds) in West Louisville. During 2025, the organization worked in the institution six days-per-week to minister to and disciple the incarcerated men. It had been previously confirmed that there was a great need for a safe and quiet place to allow those committed to spiritual growth to further develop and practice the spiritual habits being taught. As a result, dedicated discipleship dorms inside the institution are maintained. A 12-week discipleship training program is offered to those inside the facility that wish to participate in the program. Active leaders within that more general discipleship group are then accepted into this more intensive training. These men then become eligible to be invited into a dedicated dorm through a vote by other participants. Freedom Lake has also acquired property to support program participants who wish to continue their journey after being released from incarceration. The organization launched a live-in refuge to house men for an extended period where they continue to focus on their spiritual growth, have structure, work responsibilities and develop the necessary self-discipline that will be required to continue their spiritual walk and successfully re-enter society. During 2025, the organization conducted 624 Bible studies, served 120 fellowship meals, held 208 discipleship activities, provided 3,650 hours of mentorship to 614 Mentees and baptized 149 men. Through its programming, the organization withnessed hundres of men find renewed hope and purpose in their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.8%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.8%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.47; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.9; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 30.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 43.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.8% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $575K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $80K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.