Greater Europe Mission
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 362345199
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Wheaton, IL, US
- Phone
- 719-488-8008
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $29,435,355
- Expenses
- $28,777,271
- Assets
- $20,829,364
- Liabilities
- $2,893,565
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JONATHAN BURNS (PRESIDENT & CEO, INTL)
- SARAH ROBINS (PRESIDENT, US)
Highest reported compensation
- JONATHAN BURNS (PRESIDENT & CEO, INTL): $274,213 total reported compensation
- THAD K MCAULEY (COO, INTL): $230,166 total reported compensation
- CHRISTOPHER TWEEDY (CFO, US & INTL): $203,257 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Reach Europe by multiplying disciples and growing Christ's Church. In 1949, Evans began pouring his energy into the ongoing training of European believers, starting with the opening of a Bible school in Chatou, France, called the European Bible Institute, which was dedicated to training lay leaders in the fundamentals of the Bible. Soon opportunities opened for missionary work in many other European countries, giving rise to the establishment of Greater Europe Mission in 1952. Filled with qualified North Americans to help—not manage—the theologically inclined Europeans, these schools were the ideal place for Europeans to train for disciple-making. In the 30 years Bob served as its director, GEM started additional Bible institutes in Germany, Sweden, Spain,.
What it reported doing in 2024
Gem exists to relationally connect and reach the unbelieving and uncommitted across europe, grow and deepen them in their faith through intentional discipleship and to empower and send them out to impact their world for jesus christ. Areas that gem focuses on to do this are church planting, discipleship multiplication, biblical education, refugee ministries, justice ministries, and professional ministries. Gem seeks to minister to others out of their own transformation, seeing the lost saved, and disciples multiplied with a humble heart while honoring god's resources.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 78
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 82%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $18.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Pass
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.4%; rating input score 99; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 82% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $24M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $274K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.