Grace in Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271931920
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New Ulm, MN, USA
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$910,245
Expenses
$841,751
Assets
$729,532
Liabilities
$26,440

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Gary Jeffers (Development & Marketing Director): $115,398 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To support Chrisian ministry and to bring the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to people around the globe through ministerial leadership training, innovative ministries and ministry tools and products in support of reaching and teaching the world with the word of God.

What it reported doing in 2024

Grant made to Crosswalk Church (CrossTrain Ministry) in the amount of $87,150. CrossTrain Ministry held 4 in person four day training sessions in 2024 for 80 Lutheran pastors,3 staff ministers and 4 teachers. The leadership training sessions improved spiritual, emotional, and physical health and resiliency, sprititual leadership skills, and the quality of Christian leadership. In addition, Cross Train Ministry held 12 monthly webinars involving about 50 participants each month including Lutheran pastors, staff ministers and teachers in each. Here also the webinars were designed to improve Christian leadership skills. In total, the attendees for the in person sessions and webinars represented 80 Lutheran congregations with church membership of over 37,500 members.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 60.7%; rating input score 61
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.1%; rating input score 99; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.5%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57% of revenue deployed · 60.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $511K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $115K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.