Training Leaders International
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 800366071
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Phone
- 888.546.1118
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Protestant
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,594,689
- Expenses
- $7,054,341
- Assets
- $2,760,760
- Liabilities
- $311,117
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DUANE TWEETEN (President)
Highest reported compensation
- DUANE TWEETEN (President): $120,000 total reported compensation
- DARREN CARLSON (Founder): $46,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Training Leaders International exists to establish and strengthen local churches and their leaders around the world by responding to a growing need for theological education (a “theological famine”), so pastors and church leaders can be trained through culturally appropriate, effective, and reproducible Word-driven, skill-oriented, partner-focused training.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024 Training Leaders International held 98 training sessions at 35 sites both foreign and domestically. Through these trainings we were able to train over 1,000 pastors to understand and communicate the
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 92
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 27
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.7%; rating input score 98
- Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $24.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
- 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: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 97.7% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 30 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.