St. John's Lutheran Church Foundation

Legal name: St John's Lutheran Church Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
421167246
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Des Moines, IA, United States
Phone
(515) 243-7691
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$601,205
Expenses
$379,333
Assets
$6,276,388
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICH HANSEN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JOEL LUNDE (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JACQUELINE WARMING (DIRECTOR)
  • RICH HANSEN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JOEL LUNDE (PRESIDENT)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

St. John's Lutheran Church participates in God's mission to bless, save, restore, and reconcile the world through meaningful worship and faithful witness in the city of Des Moines and throughout the world. This summer we will go to Lutheran Lakeside for a mission trip from July 26-31st. All youth who have completed grades 9-12 are invited to join us on this trip. This mission trip will mix mission trip work and our favorite camp experiences. Students will do service work in the morning and join in the camp fun; ziplining, boating, hammocking, swimming and more in the afternoon and evening. Youth will also have opportunities to do new activities offered only to older campers. The cost of this mission trip is $150 per youth.

What it reported doing in 2025

Funded capital expenses and building renovation including; cathedral preservation, breezeway doors, hvac system, north roof replacement and annual general maintenance & repairs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 98% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 99.5%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.9%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.55; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 99.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $377K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 13 of 13 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.