South Christian High School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
381497205
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Byron Center, MI, United States
Phone
616.455.3210
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,733,569
Expenses
$9,280,297
Assets
$61,521,493
Liabilities
$2,287,862

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATTHEW ALFERINK (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • RYAN BENNINK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KRISTA WRIGHT (EMPLOYEE): $105,874 total reported compensation
  • AARON MECKES (EMPLOYEE): $105,513 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of South Christian High School is to equip students to live Christ-centered lives and serve God to their greatest potential. It is a safe place where students grow and belong. South Christian’s academic program is designed to infuse faith into the curriculum, inviting students to see how what they’re learning equips them to honor God with their lives. A variety of classes are offered, allowing students to explore new things or grow in the passions God has uniquely given them. Our teaching staff is composed of committed Christians, who are dedicated to learning and growing professionally and personally so that they are equipped to teach and serve their students well. _Our students collaborated with the architect to come up with the theme of this mission piece: The Pillar of Fire. The design of the pillar starts at the base representing the Old Testament and the pil.

What it reported doing in 2024

We provided a christ-centered education to our 700 students in our school, equipping them to use their god given talents to the best of their abilities

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.3%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 91%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.4%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.63; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 62.3% of revenue deployed · 91% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $106K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.