Never the Same

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270520081
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Kentwood, MI, USA
Phone
6166697733
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,717,513
Expenses
$1,859,985
Assets
$739,457
Liabilities
$36,359

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY ECKART (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFFREY ECKART (PRESIDENT): $117,189 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cultivating the lives of students through biblical discipleship and spiritual disciplines using theology, community, and technology.

What it reported doing in 2024

Never the same provides immersive experiences, practical resources, and missional initiatives for individual students, local church youth ministries, and adult youth workers. We help nurture faith in students using three methods: (1) teaching students about god, scripture and spiritual disciplines are central to our values. By creatively presenting the rich traditions of the christian faith, never the same has trained thousands of students and youth workers in themes such as the nicene creed, inductive bible study, and the practices of prayer. (2) surrounding students with the strength and support of the local church is an important strategy of never the same and is integral to building a structure for students to succeed. The ministries of never the same include built in mechanisms that connect students to their local church leadership and fellowship. (3) creating opportunities for students to learn and interact using technology is key when engaging students today. Through mobile app technology, social media, podcasting, and web development, never the same is continuing to form ways for students to experience and practice their christian faith.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 49.5%; rating input score 50; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.