Light of Life Ministries Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
251056389
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone
4122586162
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Emergency Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,118,104
Expenses
$14,542,842
Assets
$42,609,277
Liabilities
$15,280,267

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JERREL GILLIAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JERREL GILLIAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $163,362 total reported compensation
  • DOUG SMITH (ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECT): $123,585 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Light of life transforms lives through the love of christ by providing food, shelter, and hope to men, women, and children experiencing homelessness, poverty, or addiction to restore them as healthy members of our community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Food & emergency shelter programthis program includes street homeless outreach, emergency shelter, and meal ministry with community outreach. The emergency shelter holds up to twenty-four men (more if any of the 12 housing & employment or shelter plus beds are open). Men and women can come for dinner, a shower, a bed for the night and breakfast the next morning. They also receive an invitation to receive case management. The shelter plus program adds case management for those individuals who are ready to make a change in their lives. Meal ministry encompasses the mission serving breakfast and dinner to men, women and children in the community as well as to the residents. At thanksgiving, christmas and easter, volunteers take meals prepared at the mission to senior centers in the community. An average of 285 meals is served every day. The outreach services include a food pantry, free store for clothing and other essentials, and a furniture bank. Held both mornings and evenings daily, light of life's chapel ministry delivers the gospel of christ to men and women in dire need of hope.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 67.3%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: -3%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.93; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 67.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $9.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $163K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.