Lesser Ministries Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 921166845
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- Pink Hill, NC, USA
- Phone
- 9102710039
- Rating
- 63
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $204,281
- Expenses
- $143,723
- Assets
- $124,305
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JONATHAN D SMITH (President Director)
Highest reported compensation
- JONATHAN D SMITH (President Director): $51,016 total reported compensation
- MELISSA D SMITH (Treasurer Director): $4,500 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Lesser Ministries supports pastors and church leaders and provides mission opportunities for those serving the less fortunate, meeting both physical and spiritual needs.
What it reported doing in 2024
Domestic Ministry: Supported pastors and congregations in the U.S. Offered service opportunities to help individuals and families in need Partnered with ministries to provide supplies and volunteer support. Led a supply drive for Hurricane Helene victims in Western NC. Served as chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. Worked with local churches, schools, and groups in relief efforts. Supported leadership retreat and Kids For Jesus programs. Provided benevolence assistance to families in need. Estimated more than 1,000 families served through activities. Program furthered domestic outreach and community support. See Schedule O for full description.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and revenue has grown recently. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 51
- Accountability: 58
- Sustainability: 60
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 63.5%; rating input score 63
- Program expense ratio: 90.2%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $320.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 80%; rating input score 80; 1st 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: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Pass
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 29.6%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 38.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 51.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 64.4% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 63.5% of revenue deployed · 90.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $75K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $51K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 21 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.