Crossway

Legal name: Good News Publishers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
361143987
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wheaton, IL, USA
Phone
6306824300
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$62,229,488
Expenses
$51,879,682
Assets
$76,782,842
Liabilities
$21,647,802

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Josh Dennis (Chairman of the Board, President, CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Josh Dennis (Chairman of the Board, President, CEO): $502,091 total reported compensation
  • Donald Jones (Board Member, Chief Publishing Officer): $337,741 total reported compensation
  • Andrew Tebbe (Chief Communications Officer (part year)): $335,747 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Good News Publishers exists to publish content that glorifies God and helps people understand the Bible.

What it reported doing in 2024

Tract Publishing Founded in 1938 as Good News Publishers, Crossway began by printing evangelistic tracts and continues to distribute them worldwide to churches, ministries, and individuals engaged in gospel outreach. Digital and Global Ministry Initiatives Crossway invests in digital publishing to expand access to Scripture and gospel-centered resources. The ESV Bible was among the first modern translations released simultaneously in print and digital formats, and today it is freely available online and through mobile apps. Crossway also undertakes major global distribution projects, such as initiatives to place Bibles in the hands of people who might not otherwise have access to God's Word. All of this work is made possible by God's grace, with the aim of honoring our Savior and serving his church, for the glory of God alone.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 60% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.3%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 89.2%; rating input score 89; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 45.5%; rating input score 45; 12th 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: 16.6%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.48; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $45.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $502K · 24 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $36.1M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 42 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 21 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 45/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.