The Center for Christian Study
Legal name: University Christian Ministries Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 510192618
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Charlottesville, VA, United States
- Phone
- (434) 817-1050
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,688,543
- Expenses
- $1,655,586
- Assets
- $10,519,093
- Liabilities
- $846,889
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- DR WILLIAM WILDER (EXECUTIVE DI): $120,346 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Center for Christian Study is to provide opportunities and resources for corporate and individual investigation of the truths of the historic Christian faith in response to the questions raised by contemporary society—first to the University of Virginia, secondly to the Charlottesville community, and thirdly to the broader region—so that men and women will be transformed by the Truth, reflected in their thoughts and actions in private life before God and in public life as members of society, the family, and the Church.
What it reported doing in 2024
Fall 2024: (5) lecture events: "ask bill anything" (bill wilder); "the surprising rebirth of belief in god" (justin brierley); "two view: baptism (ben maton & keith goad); "meet the professor" (lucy guarnera); "what to do after college fair". Spring 2025: (3) lecture events: "from godric's hollow to king's cross: theology in harry potter" (sarah borden); "lunch with a professor" (jennifer frey); "veritas forum: what makes my life worth it?" (curt thompson & david costanza); (4) lunch club lectures - "what's the deal with denominations? Intro" (fitz green); "what's the deal with denominations? - victory church" (aj moseley)-; "what's the deal with denominations? - trinity presbyterian church" (chris colquitt); "what's the deal with denominations? - portico" (jason conner); "what's the deal with denominations? - st. Nicholas orthodox church" (fr. Robert holet); "what's the deal with denominations? - church of the good shepherd (rev. April murray).
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 53
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 79
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 45.3%; rating input score 45
- Program expense ratio: 72.9%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 38.4%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.35; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 45.3% of revenue deployed · 72.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 45/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.