United Bible Societies

What it reported doing in 2024

The united bible societies association helps the ubs fellowship make the bible available to everyone by providing shared services and tools, as well as learning and collaboration opportunities to bible societies. These include facilitating the sharing of financial resources through the grants programme. By doing this, they increase the efficiency and effectiveness of bible societies' ministries, their organisations and their work together as a fellowship.in 2024, the association's management and staff continued to deliver services that significantly increased the cohesion, capacity, and global impact of the ubs fellowship. Through a wide range of activities-spanning global events, digital infrastructure, communication, member support, and funding programmes-the association served as a central resource for bible societies across all regions.the association's services continued to support bible societies as they navigate the contemporary complex realities of an increasingly digital society, a world affected by climate change and a growing number of natural disasters, conflicts and wars. The association placed special emphasis on enhancing the collaboration and partnerships among the bible societies and delivering services and activities that supported the sustainability of bible societies, the ubs fellowship and the association. This included organising the first fellowship in-person collaboration event after the covid pandemic. As part of the association's commitment to serving bible societies more effectively, a fellowship-wide survey and consultation were carried out in early 2024. The objective was to identify the most urgent needs across the fellowship and determine how the global mission team (gmt) could deliver the most meaningful and targeted support. The insights gathered have directly informed the development of the ubsa strategic plan for the next three years, ensuring our collective efforts remain grounded in the realities faced by bible societies and focused on areas of greatest impact.the senior strategic team dedicated significant time and input to shaping the new strategic plan. The final version was presented to the board and formally approved at its june meeting. Implementation began immediately thereafter.the association's management & staff delivered services that increased the effectiveness of bible ministry throughout the ubs fellowship. They did this through: strengthening bible ministry across the fellowshipin 2024, the association's management and staff continued to deliver impactful services that enhanced the effectiveness of bible ministry throughout the ubs fellowship. Core support included training, mentoring, technological assistance, project management, and strategic collaboration across translation, publishing, digital engagement, and bible engagement ministries.bible translation training & quality assurancetraining & development- in the americas, three in-person training courses were conducted: two for bible translators and one for translation officers. Four translators and one translation officer graduated from these programs.- a training workshop for deaf bible translators was held in south africa, bringing together 37 participants from seven bible societies (including botswana, eswatini, zimbabwe, and ghana) and representatives from hand with words. Deaf translators from four bible societies were elected to the africa region deaf committee, strengthening regional leadership and representation.- between february and may, 122 translators were trained via in-person and online courses held in bangladesh, benin, costa rica, colombia, and kenya.- a sign language officer training course was delivered online in march, with 19 participants, and two graduates from south africa and the philippines.- a global translation officers training session was conducted online for 16 participants, aimed at building capacity among mid-level translation project leaders.advisory & scholarly engagement- global translat

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 97.1%; rating input score 97
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Fail
  • Conducts field audits: Fail
  • May suspend future funding: Fail
  • Requires financial reports: Pass
  • Conducts site visits: Fail
  • Requires grant agreements: Fail
  • May require repayment: Fail
• Grant itemization coverage: 96.9%; rating input score 97; 27th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -9.1%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.32; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings