The Sword of the Spirit

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
383002347
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
East Lansing, MI, USA
Phone
5173368530
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$669,797
Expenses
$686,705
Assets
$3,158,463
Liabilities
$2,234,368

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY SMITH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTOPHER DEFORD (SECRETARY): $14,707 total reported compensation
  • JAMES MUNK (TREASURER): $11,410 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote the spread of the gospel and the strengthening of god's people- catholic, protestant, and orthodox- worldwide, through a program of active evangelism, christian community formation, doctrinal and moral instruction, ecumenism, and programs for the poor and disadvantaged.

What it reported doing in 2025

Kairos north america is the regional youth work program of the sword of the spirit. Our purpose is to serve the youth of the sword of the spirit by awakening them to a venturesome faith, inviting them to give a generous response to the lord, and offering them a place to serve. Our ultimate aim in all that we do is radical, lifelong discipleship for ourselves and for the young people we serve. We understand that the teenage years are particularly impactful for the trajectory of an individual's life, and as such, we seek to encounter young people in this stage of life through high impact events that call them deeper into relationship with jesus christ and open them up to the adventure of discipleship. For high school graduates we offer two service programs; the two month kairos adventure guide program and the year long gap program. We also provide training and support to our network of the sword of the spirit youth groups around the region and resources for parents as they tackle the challenges of raising children in the modern world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 61% 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 - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.5%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $42.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.8%; rating input score 99; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.5%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.6; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.71; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.5% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $534K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $15K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.