United Methodist Foundation of Louisiana Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
720779104
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Phone
2259369210
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,232,248
Expenses
$4,684,979
Assets
$59,958,603
Liabilities
$2,244,141

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Christopher Spencer (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Christopher Spencer (President): $222,040 total reported compensation
  • Tracie Wharton (Controller): $159,914 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Support the ministries of the Methodist church through planned giving services - trusts and endowments

What it reported doing in 2025

Act as trustee for endowments and planned gifts that benefit Methodist ministries in the state of Louisiana. We distributed 2,418,327 in income earned on endowments during 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 72% for direct work, and 28% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.8%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 76.3%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.1%; rating input score 95; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 43.1%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.8; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.8% of revenue deployed · 76.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $222K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 31 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 12 filed related-organization links
  • 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: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.