Vapor Ministries

Legal name: Vapor Sports Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030566373
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Sylacauga, AL, United States
Phone
256-208-2060
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,261,383
Expenses
$3,113,380
Assets
$6,136,961
Liabilities
$931,452

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Johnathon M McElveen (President)
  • Sommer L'Hoste (Vice President & Secretary)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sommer L'Hoste (Vice President & Secretary): $117,422 total reported compensation
  • Katie Price (Treasurer): $112,076 total reported compensation
  • Johnathon M McElveen (President): $93,815 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Meet needs. Feed souls. Elevate God. Vapor Ministries is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. © 2025 Vapor Ministries. All rights reserved. 338 Talladega Springs Rd. Sylacauga, AL 35151.

What it reported doing in 2025

Operate centers for humanitarian aid and disciple-making through sports- based outreach. These centers are located in Nairobi, Kenya; N'gong, Kenya; Togoville, Togo; Sokome, Togo; Dilaire, Haiti; Ferrier, Haiti; and Ouanaminthe, Haiti. At these centers, Vapor Sports Ministries, Inc. provides full time jobs for impoverished individuals, provides impoverished children with free-of-charge sports memberships in sports leagues, supplies critical care humanitarian aid, and supplies high volumes of clean water to these communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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.

The verdict

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 56
  • Accountability: 23
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.9%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.97; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 74.8% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.