Samaritan Ministries International

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
371295601
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Peoria, IL, US
Phone
1-877-764-2426
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health, General and Financing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$73,414,493
Expenses
$59,427,024
Assets
$60,966,577
Liabilities
$9,597,614

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK ZANDER (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • TIM VAN HOOF (VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING)
  • STEVEN BASSET (VICE PRESIDENT OF OSS)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARK ZANDER (PRESIDENT/CEO): $417,087 total reported compensation
  • WILL COOPER (EVP/CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $330,933 total reported compensation
  • DOUGLAS WINKLER VP CHIEF (FINANCIAL OFFICER (THRU 11/24)): $279,742 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Samaritan Ministries International is a Christian health care sharing ministry that connects members to share medical expenses directly with one another, operating on biblical principles rather than as insurance.

What it reported doing in 2024

Samaritan ministries international (smi) is a religious community made up of member households dedicated to the christian great commission and applying those principles in unique ways to meet the needs of our community, and by example, those of the greater community. Membership is available to any and all professing christians who are in agreement with our statement of faith and commitment to biblical living without barrier due to age, physical condition, or prior ailments. A significant portion of our members are subsisting on very low income, and almost all member households have no health insurance. Total membership households as of june 30, 2025, was 77,809 households, including about 265,300 people. Smi has members residing in all 50 states as well as several countries abroad. A significant portion of the members are employed as church ministers and church staff, in para-church ministries and other charitable organizations. Smi publishes and distributes a monthly "christian health care newsletter," containing articles on various topics applying a christian world view to all of life, spiritual issues, health care, the religious ministries of the organization, and the religious ministries of our members. The newsletter seeks to educate and encourage members and other readers to apply christian teachings to all aspects of life, not just health care issues. Part of that christian mindset is helping the readers to understand that a sharing ministry's emphasis is on how they can give to help others now rather than what they might receive if they have a need in the future. The prayer guide: the physical and spiritual needs of members and non-members, upon request, are published together in a "prayer guide," which is used by our members and the smi staff for the offering of prayers on the behalf of those in need. This guide also includes testimonies of how god has been working in members' lives. Each month many different versions of the prayer guide are prepared, and each member household receives one of the versions. The guide averages 1,000 prayer requests per month. It is mailed monthly to all the members. Health care sharing - share slip: all members of smi participate in the health care sharing ministry. Participants pledge to send a minimum monthly amount (called a "share") based on household size directly to those households who have medical expense needs that come within smi's guidelines of expenses that we will share as a community. Each month members receive a "share slip" reporting a family with a medical expense need to whom they should send their monthly share, and for whom they should be praying and sending notes of encouragement. This fiscal year our members shared approximately $432,400,000 in accord with the minimum monthly amount pledged to be sent directly to those member households in need due to medical expenses. This sharing assisted our members with 135,581 medical incidents (injuries or illnesses) during the year. Additionally $14,722,066 was shared for medical incidents that exceeded $250,000 in cost. Because these amounts are sent directly, member to member, the amounts are not reflected in smi's revenue or expenses. Members in need receive additional assistance by a variety of means beyond the regular sharing: member extra direct giving: in its monthly mailing smi makes each member aware of expenses that some member had that fall outside our regular sharing guidelines, and encourages extra giving to meet that need. Due to these funds flowing directly member to member samaritan ministries is dependent on the members reporting what gifts they received. Based on the reporting received, the amount exceeded $2,500,000. Member extra giving through smi: in addition to members giving extra directly to those in need, smi encourages members to also give extra directly to smi for smi to distribute. Smi receives tax deductible gifts retained in smi's restricted funds for helping members with medical expenses that f

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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 and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.1%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 64.7%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2,523.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 36th 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: 19.1%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 53.1% of revenue deployed · 64.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $38.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $417K · 22 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.7M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.