Lovers Lane United Methodist Foundation

Legal name: Lovers Lane United Methodist Church Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
751717845
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Dallas, TX, United States
Phone
(214) 706-9561
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Protestant
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,491,855
Expenses
$1,316,915
Assets
$26,811,381
Liabilities
$6,410,305

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL DITTO (EXECUTIVE DI): $127,524 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Lovers Lane UMC Foundation is to build and manage a financial cornerstone supporting the Ministry, outreach, maintenance, operations, and evangelism of Lovers Lane UMC. The Lovers Lane UMC Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) organization that provides financial support for our church, its members, and the ministries of LLUMC. This is accomplished through the faithful giving of members of our church, to be used in areas of mission & outreach, evangelism, education, benevolence, music, arts, technology, scholarships, and lecture series. The Foundation also supports our church financially through grants to assist with facility and campus preservation. Unlike other 501(c)(3)s of the church, the Foundation is not owned by the church, but our sole purpose is to support LLUMC and its ministries. Bottom Line on Gifts to the Foundation You have made the church part o.

What it reported doing in 2024

The lovers lane united methodist church foundation (the "foundation") exists solely to support lovers lane united methodist church (the "church") and its ministries ("ministries"), through the receipt of contributions to one or more endowment funds held by the foundation, which are invested and the income and gains from such investments are used to make distributions to the church, its ministries or individuals served by the church or its ministries. 2024 was a great year for the foundation. Total assets remain at the highest levels (more than 26m). Our distributions or grants to the church and its ministries have grown from approximately 440,000 in 2019 to almost 1 million in 2024. Below are examples of how the foundation has supported our church with grants in 2024 (rounded to nearest approximate number): facilities 521,000 church interest carry 88,000 walnut hill church 37,000 benevolence 26,000 12th step ministry 18,000 artreach gallery 13,000 deaf ministries 12,000 children ministries 3,000 12 step house of hope 100,000 kenya missions/scholarships 84,000 church tech upgrades 28,000 lecture series 30,000 family ministries 14,000 music ministry 13,000 mission/outreach/care 6,000 prison ministry 2,500 as of 12-31-2024 the foundation's endowment funds totaled more than 20m. Additionally, the foundation holds and invests funds on behalf of the church and its 501(c)(3) subsidiaries, totaling more than 6 million. The foundation is more than just a series of endowment trusts -- it is literally the foundation upon which much of the finances of our church and its ministries depend. Our congregation has made the church part of their lives -- the foundation is their opportunity to make the church part of their legacy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th 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: 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.7%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.36; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $994K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.