Prison Fellowship Ministries

What it reported doing in 2024

Program ministry: prison fellowship staff and volunteers are in prisons each day building communities of good citizens through the prison fellowship academy and prison fellowship grow, which use targeted curriculum, compassionate coaches, and restorative community to replace participants' criminal thinking and behaviors with renewed purpose and biblically based life principles. During fiscal year 2025, men and women in 229 academy and grow sites in 44 states participated in the year long, evidence-based programs as change agents inside and outside of prison. As a result, we are seeing incarcerated people use their sentences as time to find new, positive life paths with prison fellowship staff and volunteers as their guides.prison fellowship lead helped to cultivate prison fellowship academy and grow graduates into mature christian leaders who completed 70 different service projects that made an impact on their community.with the help of 7,389 in-prison volunteers who served with prison fellowship during fiscal year 2025, 5,640 incarcerated men and women were impacted by prison fellowship classes, seminars, or intensive programs. Throughout the fiscal year, 186,173 bibles and other christian resources were distributed to prisoners. The ministry also delivered 1,061,099 copies of inside journal, an inspirational newspaper for the prison population. Also, 145 officials from various state departments of corrections have graduated from the warden exchange, a program designed to help correctional officials make their prisons safer, more constructive, and more supportive of prisoners' rehabilitation. In North Dakota this year, prison fellowship piloted the prison culture assessment, a tool to evaluate the health of a prison facility's culture and its conduciveness to the development of good citizenship.prison fellowship angel tree serves incarcerated parents by mobilizing the church to serve their children and families. Every christmas, angel tree equips local congregations and partner organizations to minister to hundreds of thousands of children by delivering a gift and the gospel message on behalf of their incarcerated parents. In addition, many of our partner churches meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of prisoners' families through year-round ministries such as camping, sports camps, mentoring, and in-church activities.through these partnerships, angel tree provides a pathway for strengthening and restoring prisoners' relationships with their children and families. In fiscal year 2025, 97,671 parents submitted applications for angel tree christmas, and more than 270,983 children were assigned to local angel tree partners who serve them at christmas. Through a scholarship from angel tree, 5,707 children with an incarcerated parent attended christian summer camp. Angel tree hosted sports camps where 1,673 children with an incarcerated parent gained skills in various sports from seasoned college players and current or former professional athletes and learned of god's love. This year, we connected prisoners' families in five focus cities to a community of nonprofit partners that have the expertise and the heart to lend a first chance to angel tree children. This vision is supported in part by the first and second chances philanthropy council, composed of corporations and foundations seeking to holistically support children with incarcerated parents and unlock second chances for people with a criminal record. With the support of its partners, prison fellowship made it possible for 247 angel tree children to attend stem camps where they honed their skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.through our evangelism events, we introduce incarcerated men and women to a new future in christ and nurture their spiritual growth, reaching 13,888 prisoners at 144 hope events this year.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 66.7%; rating input score 67
• Program expense ratio: 68.6%; rating input score 69
• Fundraising efficiency: $4.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 87.9%; rating input score 88; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 42nd 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: 3.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings