Goten
Legal name: Goten Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 263839390
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2013
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Phone
- 480-462-7000
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Protestant
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,548,962
- Expenses
- $1,411,698
- Assets
- $765,987
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ROBERT COX (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- ROBERT COX (PRESIDENT & CEO): $148,013 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
GoTEN is founded on Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19–20, believing the Great Commission is a call to make disciples of all nations, and its mission purpose includes facilitating discipleship relationships among unreached people. The word “nations” comes from the Greek **ethne** — not political countries, but **distinct peoples with their own language and culture**. God is bringing the nations to our neighborhoods, and we desire to be faithful, obedient, and joy-filled participants in His mission. Join First Serve GoTEN Training Center. Events, local engagement, and guided steps that help people discern and take next steps in mission. Online & In-Person Training Programs designed to build cultural understanding, relational confidence, and discipleship habits.
What it reported doing in 2025
Goten supported missionaries both locally in phoenix, Arizona, and globally in undisclosed locations across asia. All missionaries focus on reaching unreached people groups through relational engagement and long-term discipleship. Locally, refugee-background missionaries and staff build relationships with new arrivals in the u.s., particularly among muslim-majority populations. Globally, our missionaries live among unreached communities and engage in culturally appropriate outreach and discipleship efforts.our fieldwork is measured through three key impact areas: connect, communicate, and disciple. In 2024, our team made 4,685 home-based relational connections outside of organized services. These visits opened the door for 1,410 gospel-centered conversations and bible story presentations. As a result, 224 ongoing discipleship meetings were launched, some of which are now being led by local believers in their own language, indicating early stages of a multiplying movement.this work reflects our long-term objective: to facilitate sustainable, culturally appropriate discipleship movements among unreached people groupswhether they've arrived in the u.s. Or are living in some of the hardest-to-reach places on earth.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.8%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 89.7%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $94.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8.9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 89.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $148K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.