Living Waters Publications

What it reported doing in 2024

Street evangelism (program expenditures - $571,484.40)this weekly program focuses on preaching the biblical principle of man's need for repentance and salvation at outdoor venues such as parks, beaches, higher educational facilities, and anywhere the general public might be found in large numbers. In addition to speaking, the printed resources of the organization are passed out and discussed one-on-one between ministry volunteers and members of the general public. The program also supplies resources, free of charge, to employees as an ongoing encouragement to be engaged in the practice of street and personal evangelism in their everyday surroundings. This program also involves the staff development of new or revised printed resources. For the year ended december 31, 2024, the organization generated and distributed five new gospel tracts. The program is highly effective in that biblical teaching is going out to the public on a regular basis, and in that it provides a consistent real-world opportunity for the training of christians to effectively share their faith. The organization have continued to support local and state volunteers who attended local conferences, book fairs, and other civic functions and gave away copies of select evangelistic materials supplied by living waters at no charge. This support provides a better means for meeting the need for localized evangelism training by those in the specific geographic area. Additionally, we donated materials to several event workers, organizations, and individuals for free use and distribution. In 2024, one such large scale event provided customized resources to be given away leading up to and during the olympic summer games in paris france. During this outreach, millions of free resources were provided to christians in the u.s., the u.k., europe, australia and new zealand.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 62.6%; rating input score 63
• Program expense ratio: 51.5%; rating input score 52
• Fundraising efficiency: $5.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Fail
  • 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: 89.4%; rating input score 89; 25th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 57.1%; rating input score 57; 9th 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: -1.3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.24; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 31.4%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings