Scriptures In Use

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860578728
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Green Valley, AZ, USA
Phone
5206486400
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,710,537
Expenses
$1,799,859
Assets
$647,832
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kent Kiefer (CEO/Exec Dir/Board Secretary)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kent Kiefer (CEO/Exec Dir/Board Secretary): $206,143 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To equip and train oral people to make disciples who experience God through His Word in their own heart language and culture.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Organization specializes in training non-western oral learners through an Oral Bible, a collection of stories from the Bible that are told face-to-face and memorized. These training methods have proven very effective for evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication of disciple making and church planting movements among the least-reached people in non or semi-literate people groups.During 2025, 23,191 workers were trained in 769 events in 30 countries and 32 languages. About 78% of these training events were held without SIU funding. Additionally, 3,106 new local trainers and 845 new master trainers were trained to train others in the SIU Bridges model. (see Schedule O for continuation)Through these trainings, 6,742 new local church planters were equipped to plant Oral Bible Churches.During 2025, the Organization's network of international partners reported 36,502 new believers and 4,425 new Churches planted. This 2025 reporting also included 134 Bridges for Women training events held around the world with 6,376 women in attendance.In cumulative total, since collecting from Jan. 2008 forward, the Organization's international partners have reported 617,142 new believers and 119,980 new Churches planted. The total number of Bridges training events held during this timeframe is 19,854. These numbers are conservative as some of the Organization's partners are unable to report due to difficult and challenging circumstances. In the midst of the challenges faced each year, we work with our partners to provide timely, accurate, and conservative reporting.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 66% for direct work, and 34% for grants.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95%; rating input score 95; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.2%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.36; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.5%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84% of revenue deployed · 79.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $206K · 8 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.