Teaching Truth International

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261480730
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Robbinsdale, MN, USA
Phone
8777895130
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,274,452
Expenses
$1,471,533
Assets
$1,095,539
Liabilities
$13,239

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BENJAMIN CORNISH (PRESIDENT/CHAIRMAN)
  • JAMIN EBEN (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • BENJAMIN CORNISH (PRESIDENT/CHAIRMAN): $172,320 total reported compensation
  • JAMIN EBEN (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY): $137,190 total reported compensation
  • RICHARD CORNISH (DIRECTOR/SENIOR TEACHER): $115,028 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Provide christian teaching for pastors, teachers and other church leaders in various parts of the world. The teaching includes the bible, theology, church history, apologetics and practical ministry and related fields.

What it reported doing in 2025

Teaching truth international (tti) conducted 21 bible teaching conferences for 1,484 pastors and church leaders in 2025 in parts of the world where a formal theological education is not accessible.the training content included the following courses: the bible and its story, hermeneutics, systematic theology, advanced trinity & christology, old testament introduction & survey, new testament introduction & survey, church history, apologetics against the "prosperity gospel," colossians, mark, titus, 1 timothy, 1 peter. The pastors represented 21 different countries, from africa, central america, and south and east asia. (continued on schedule o)in southeast africa, 50+ secondary training centers are run by tti-trained pastors who are teaching the curriculum to another 300+ pastors. An increased effort had been made to expand the secondary training cohorts throughout the world. Preliminary work was accomplished to establish partnerships in three new countries in 2026.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 50% for direct work, and 50% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.7%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 57.1%; rating input score 57; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.5%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.9%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.7% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $172K · 7 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 57/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.