Shepherds' Support International
Legal name: Shepherds' Support Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 204067500
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
- Location
- San Antonio, TX, USA
- Phone
- 2103879806
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Protestant
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $484,405
- Expenses
- $491,015
- Assets
- $524,776
- Liabilities
- $10,950
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Rick Lowe (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Rick Lowe (Executive Director): $101,841 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Shepherds’ Support International equips and encourages pastoral couples and ministry leaders through Gospel-centered training and teaching so they can “finish well” in both their marriage and ministry. Pastor William and Ruth serve in the “Cristo Vive” church located in Lima, Perú. They are the founders of Matrimonios de Gozo Perú whose mission is to develop healthy pastoral and lay marriages. They have served with Shepherds’ Support since 2017. “Jim and Suzy Jim and Suzy Erb. Shepherds’ Support International had its beginning in Pastor Steve Troxel’s heart in the Spring of 2004 while he was preaching at a large conference of 5,000 Rwang and Lisu Christians. They were gathered to celebrate 25 years of the barefoot doctors’ ministry in northern Burma. Following the last session, an older man spoke up while they were warming themselves around a campfire and said “I am 80 years old. I...
What it reported doing in 2025
Shepherds Support, Inc. provides learning environments that Encourage, Equip and Engage national Christian leaders and spouses to faithfully serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His mission. We do this through sending teaching teams and sponsoring training conferences throughout the less-resourced areas of the world. Also sending resources for churches and Christian ministries doing refugee relief work.
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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 96
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 72
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.7%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 97.3%; rating input score 97
- Fundraising efficiency: $84.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 98.7% of revenue deployed · 97.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $478K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.