Frontiers USA

Legal name: MIO Frontiers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953731505
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2019
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Phoenix, AZ, United States
Phone
Toll-free: 1-800-462-8436; From Phoenix: 480-834-1500
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$36,556,098
Expenses
$34,026,253
Assets
$21,110,620
Liabilities
$509,326

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • R Peckham (CEO)
  • R Blincoe (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • J S Sadar (Treasurer/CFO): $112,156 total reported compensation
  • R Peckham (CEO): $88,975 total reported compensation
  • C Dvoret (Secretary): $43,524 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To inspire transformational movements to Christ within least-reached Muslim people groups by sending teams to catalyze change, because even the most uncharted frontiers need Jesus. With love and respect, inviting all Muslim peoples to follow Jesus. The Least-Reached Peoples and Places. Our workers live in some of the most difficult places in the world. Equipping them for effective ministry is essential. From language learning and disciple making to personal development and healthy team dynamics, our training prepares workers for fruitfulness on the field. 3 Send. Our global priorities focus on the peoples and places with the least access to the Gospel. To this end, we work to recruit, train, and send teams of workers to live in Muslim communities and bring Christ's message to those who have yet to hear it. Read More About the Least-Reached Peoples and Places → Our Process.

What it reported doing in 2019

The mission of Frontiers is to plant churches that lead to movements among the least evangelized people of the world. Expenses are related to various functions of carrying on this work during the current year. These expenses include training, recruiting, preparing, and supporting the work of the fieldworkers. Some of the various events and programs include: - Candidate School: Event held twice to three times a year to evaluate and train potential fieldworkers.- Recruiting Events: Mobilization events held in the US to identify potential candidates for overseas fieldwork.- Member Care Events: Events held to debrief and improve the spiritual health of fieldworkers who have experienced life-changing events. - Training: Region specific training for fieldworkers.- Church-Based Team Events - Events held to prepare church-based teams for the transition to the field.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.3%; rating input score 95; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th 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: 6.9%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 78.6% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported · 0 of 6 affiliation controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $28.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 40 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.