The Collective Elca Co
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 932275188
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2023–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025
- Location
- Decatur, GA, USA
- Phone
- 4044362094
- Rating
- 62
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $147,312
- Expenses
- $81,567
- Assets
- $97,869
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
People named in this filing
- MICHAEL SCHULE (MISSION DEVELOPER)
- ERIN MURPHY (OFFICER)
- TERYNNE BURGEN (OFFICER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The collective is a churchwithout walls seeking to offer a compelling vision of love andbelonging to new generations in atlanta and beyond. We are a churchwhich radically affirms the identity and personhood of all people, achurch which stands in solidarity with our vulnerable neighbors, achurch which prides itself on being a place where you belong just asyou are.
What it reported doing in 2025
Through a generous grant from emory university, the collective has expanded its ministry to young adults - adding a monthly young adult brunch and hosting quarterly young adult socials. These events have helped us engage people who do not often engage with church. In fact, in the last few months of 2025, 60-70% of our worshipping population was under 40. We are flipping the traditional assumptions of who wants to attend, or engage, with church.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. 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: 41
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 31.8%; rating input score 32
- Program expense ratio: 57.4%; rating input score 57
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 44.6%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 77.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 72% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 75.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 31.8% of revenue deployed · 57.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $47K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.