Lutheran Braille Evangelism Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 410797729
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Inver Grove Heights, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6514472195
- Rating
- 64
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $69,713
- Expenses
- $70,677
- Assets
- $362,384
- Liabilities
- $15,307
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
People named in this filing
- BRUCE TILDERQUIST (Chairman)
- DOUG PILOT (TREAS/SEC)
- JOE POPE (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To produce & distribute Bibles & Christian materials in specialized formats for people who are blind, visually impaired or have other disabilities; to promote awareness of their needs & this organization.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024 LBEA expanded the BibleCourier program by providing 112 Talking BibleCourier handheld audio study Bibles to blind & visually impaired individuals, enabling independent Scripture access in 40 translations. Offered free training, software updates, 43 device repairs & began developing a next-generation model with enhanced audio & accessibility features. Produced & distributed 850 Braille Tract Messenger & 6,000 large-print Christian Magnifier magazines at no cost. Provided personal telephone support, re-purposed 56 adaptive items to benefit the blind community & promoted public awareness of blindness & accessibility through media & educational outreach.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 40
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 41.9%; rating input score 42
- Program expense ratio: 37.6%; rating input score 38
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.4%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.13; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 43.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 41.9% of revenue deployed · 37.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $27K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 38/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.