Ground Up Ministries
Legal name: From the Ground Up Ministries Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 813766503
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Cape Coral, FL, United States
- Phone
- 239-406-2141
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $639,695
- Expenses
- $603,435
- Assets
- $92,381
- Liabilities
- $14,839
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JENNIFER FERRI (PRESIDENT/DI)
Highest reported compensation
- KRISTEN RUSSELL (C.O.O.): $44,992 total reported compensation
- JEFF SCHUMACHER (EXECUTIVE DI): $22,558 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Stopping human trafficking / helping CSEC survivors through a comprehensive, faith-based, multi-phase program and awareness efforts for rescued girls across Florida. A Secure Sanctuary:** We provide a 24/7, high-supervision home where safety is the first step toward healing. Specialized Recovery:** Our program is designed for survivors of C-SEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children), offering the clinical and trauma-informed care necessary for this specific journey. Holistic Growth:** We focus on the whole person—medical care, specialized education, life skills, and vocational training. Holistic Growth:** We focus on the whole person—medical care, specialized education, life...
What it reported doing in 2025
Operates a specialized safe home providing 24/7 trauma-informed care. This phase focuses on establishing immediate safety, medical stability, and building foundational trust for survivors entering the program. Delivers comprehensive faith-based therapy and professional counseling tailored to deep-seated trauma. Focuses on self-awareness, behavioral change, and helping girls embrace their inherent worth and spiritual identity. Prioritizes academic resources and vocational training to ensure residents reach educational milestones. Supports the "transition" phase to prepare survivors for independent living and community reintegration.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.3%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 5.7%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 28.1% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 23.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 94.3% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $603K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $45K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 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: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.