Project Steps to Christ Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363099713
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Fort Covington, NY, USA
Phone
5183582541
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$392,837
Expenses
$462,202
Assets
$274,292
Liabilities
$17,921

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVE PEDEN (EXECUTIVE DI): $64,800 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to give every home in the united states the opportunity to receive the message of salvation as revealed in jesus christ through the distribution of free christian literature. Additionally, we provide an abundance of other free materials available upon request that minister to the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social needs of the family and individuals.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025 our outreach reached individuals in all 50 states, the district of columbia, puerto rico, and the u.s. Virgin islands. We added 7,705 new contacts to our interest database (people who requested our free resources), including 5,004 generated from facebook and instagram ads, 1,411 from our peacefinders.org website, 1,073 from book and mailer reply cards, 602 from prison ministry, and the remainder from referrals, phone inquiries, letters, and other media. In all, requests totaled over 22,000 pieces of literature, bible studies, and dvds, including 4,038 copies of israel & the end of the world, 2,896 of on the edge of time, 2,563 of the path to peace, and 1,428 of the great controversy, and we enrolled 1,931 individuals in bible study courses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.3% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $323K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.