Search for the Truth
Legal name: Search for the Truth Ministries
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 204981801
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
- Location
- Midland, MI, USA
- Phone
- (989) 915-1126
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religious Printing, Publishing
- Affiliation
- Religious (unspecified)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $327,890
- Expenses
- $305,057
- Assets
- $582,121
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SHANNON STRIEBEL (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- BRUCE MALONE (EXECUTIVE DI): $6,497 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Search For The Truth Ministries shares a biblical worldview on issues of origins—bringing science/history into connection with the Bible through resources, events, and discussions. We are a small organization whom God has used in an amazing way to reach the next generation. Currently Bruce Malone is the only full-time paid staff member, but we have a volunteer board of directors with 12 members and multiple part-time support personnel. Chris and Tracy Lowes help with speaking events and ministry organization, and we have others who help part-time with video production, graphic design, book production, shipping, and resource order entry. {"cpt":"testimonial","style":"1","columns":"1","show":"6","order":"DESC","orderby":"none"} > We so enjoy your books on the evidence for creation. In this country evolution is no longer presented as a theory but considered a fact. It is.
What it reported doing in 2024
Lecturing, speaking engagements, providing books and audio and visual resources to share the reality of creation and the reliability of the bible.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 46
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 56
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 48.5%; rating input score 48
- Program expense ratio: 53%; rating input score 53
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.91; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 48.5% of revenue deployed · 53% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $162K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $6K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 53/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.