Word of Life Fellowship

Legal name: Word of Life Fellowship Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
135648615
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Schroon Lake, NY, United States
Phone
518.494.6000
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$73,387,298
Expenses
$63,264,719
Assets
$164,057,727
Liabilities
$6,214,955

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lough Jr Donald H (President/Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lough Jr Donald H (President/Director): $205,531 total reported compensation
  • Stout Kristopher (Director): $134,180 total reported compensation
  • Nelson B John (Director/Treasurer): $81,356 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of Word of Life Fellowship is the evangelization and discipleship of youth through various means consistent with the Holy Scriptures to strengthen and build up the church of Jesus Christ. We know that it is God who supports the ministry of Word of Life through the gifts of His people. So, to honor Him and to build trust among our friends, volunteers, employees, and donors our goal is to provide as much accountability as is possible. Transparency, honesty, and openness aren’t just buzz-words, but convictions we take seriously. The President’s Report Every year we take time to review the numbers from the previous year. We then use these financial numbers combined with our ministry impact and influence to create the President’s Report. It’s created by the President and CEO as a “State of the Ministry” report to encourage donors, friends, and employees.

What it reported doing in 2025

Missions activities: Includes grants to missions activities established in 83 countries. The purpose is the same and the program activities are the same as those carried out in the US. The program activities include camps and conferences, youth programs in churches, Bible institutes and training centers, evangelistic events, sports evangelism and travelling music and drama teams. Also includes short term missions activities for youth and adult work and medical teams

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.8%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.59; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 79.4% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $57.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $206K · 24 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $19.8M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.