Upward Sports

Legal name: Upward Unlimited Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453444045
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2022
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Spartanburg, SC, USA
Phone
864-949-5701
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support
Affiliation
Religious (unspecified)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$478
Expenses
$108,485
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kevin Drake (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kevin Drake (Executive Director): $248,288 total reported compensation
  • Amie Busbee (CFO/Assist Treasurer): $155,283 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Promoting the discovery of Jesus through sports. Walking alongside churches in pursuing their mission, helping to overcome challenges and solve problems, and seeking to understand their unique circumstances and resources, we bring proven and innovative solutions to create transformational sports experiences. Community We believe the local church plays a key role in building up and fostering their community. We support churches with strategic consulting, logistics, materials and spiritual support to do just that.

What it reported doing in 2022

The Foundation supports the mission of Upward Unlimited by creating opportunities for individuals, institutions, corporations, and foundations to invest in the Upward Unlimited mission and vision. As a result the Foundation has helped meet greater needs related to the ministry's purpose of "promoting the discovery of Jesus through sports."

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 3
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -22,595.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 39.5% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -45.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -13.9% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $104K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $248K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.