Vertical Life Fellowship Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205917354
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2013
Forms available
Form 990 2013, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Redding, CA, USA
Phone
5302225254
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$260,196
Expenses
$256,155
Assets
$22,259
Liabilities
$2,096

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFF BRESHEARS (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFF BRESHEARS (President): $36,833 total reported compensation
  • SCOTT ALEXANDER (Director): $22,598 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Student ministry and evangelism

What it reported doing in 2013

Student ministry: evangelistic outreach through events. Fast forward is an all night 24 hour youth evangelistic event providing youth workers a fun filled night with the purpose of exposing students to the gospel and providing a relationship building experience for leaders and students. This event draws approximately 300 students ages 12-18.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 61% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 0
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

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

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.2%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.8% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 4 board members independent · 0 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $208K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.