Jaars

Legal name: Jaars Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
560818833
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Waxhaw, NC, USA
Phone
800.890.0628 (Toll-Free); 704.843.6000 (Local)
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Service Clubs
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,369,317
Expenses
$11,427,141
Assets
$16,923,865
Liabilities
$1,529,206

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steve Russell (President)
  • Steve Biggerstaff (Vice President of Engagement)

Highest reported compensation

  • Steve Russell (President): $122,112 total reported compensation
  • Steve Biggerstaff (Vice President of Engagement): $121,402 total reported compensation
  • Denise Shockley (V P of Finance, CFO): $98,774 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Whatever it takes—for 75 years, our passion has been to reach the unreached—spiritually and practically. Beyond the reach of an airline flight, boat charter or bus route live people who need God’s Word; JAARS covers this last mile using specialized airplanes, boats and off-road vehicles. This passion sparked when modern missions pioneer William Cameron Townsend founded JAARS to support and mobilize his Bible translation organizations. He’d seen remote, dangerous terrain halt his urgent mission efforts. And he believed God had provided a solution in the form of remote transportation innovations. Watch Our Documentary[. To trust life jackets and foreign advice, these communities need trainers willing and able to show these tools’ value. God has already used JAARS to provide this training in Papua New Guinea for Bible translators and indigenous communities. James and Andrea hope to do...

What it reported doing in 2024

BASE OPERATIONS--JAARS is heavily engaged in training pilots, mechanics, technicians and support personnel to aid Bible translation, literacy and scripture engagement in remote environments that primarily include jungle rainforests or difficult terrain. We support partners on four continents. The training assists our primary partner, SIL International, and others with transportation solutions where none readily exist with air, land and sea solutions. The approximately 500 personnel at our home base in North Carolina integrate and instruct training on aviation, maritime, land transport, communication, and intercultural relationships. The base also serves as a research & development and engineering station to create future solutions needed in the field. The base serves as the force and logistical provider, program manager, financial and personnel support base with capacity in counseling, healthcare services, housing for trainees, fundraising, and missionary support both domestic and abroad.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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

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: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 80.8%; rating input score 81; 17th 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; 66th 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: -10.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.48; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 91.6% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $9.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $122K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.