Isow Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851245407
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cleveland, TN, USA
Phone
4232505001
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$797,474
Expenses
$887,725
Assets
$82,114
Liabilities
$7,510

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR BRYAN CUTSHALL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR BRYAN CUTSHALL (PRESIDENT): $78,560 total reported compensation
  • RYAN J HAMILTON (TREASURER): $74,000 total reported compensation
  • BRITTANY EASTHAM (SECRETARY): $23,032 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Isow is committed to providing a quality online biblical education to students around the world, especially ministers who may not have other opportunities to seek education at traditional brick & mortar institutions.

What it reported doing in 2024

Isow films course content, which includes live lectures and seminars. Our objective is to provide the same quality content students would receive if they were to attend in person. Isow develops written material to supplement lectures, then organizes the content on our website. Our objective, as with filming, is to provide a quality, well-rounded biblical education to our students. Isow develops marketing campaigns to advertise live lectures and website content. Our goal is to promote course offerings to the widest possible audience. Also, program services involve providing academic and technical support to students. Our objective, as with all program services, is to provide a complete, quality academic experience to every student.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.3%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 56.8%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -11.3%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -42% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.3% of revenue deployed · 56.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $504K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $79K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.