Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261448551
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Elk Grove Village, IL, USA
Phone
8473805573
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Religious Film, Video
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$30,699,778
Expenses
$26,210,877
Assets
$56,587,672
Liabilities
$6,395,969

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stephen Grunow (CEO & Executive Producer)

Highest reported compensation

  • Matthew Petrusek (Senior Director of the Word on Fire Institute): $228,165 total reported compensation
  • John Barron (Senior Development Director): $193,894 total reported compensation
  • Jonathan Bator (Senior Director of Marketing & Sales): $187,972 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Word on Fire Catholic Ministries is a nonprofit global media apostolate that supports the work of Bishop Robert Barron and reaches millions of people to draw them into—or back to—the Catholic faith. Word on Fire is evangelical; it proclaims Jesus Christ as the source of conversion and new life. Word on Fire is Catholic; it utilizes the tremendous resources of the Roman Catholic tradition—art, architecture, poetry, philosophy, theology, and the lives of the saints—in order to explain and interpret the event of Jesus Christ. Word on Fire Catholic Ministries exists to draw people into the body of Christ, which is the Church, and thereby give them access to all the gifts that Jesus wants his peo.

What it reported doing in 2024

WORD ON FIRE MEDIA Word on Fire Media significantly expanded its evangelical reach, headlined by Bishop Barron's keynote address to over 50,000 pilgrims at the National Eucharistic Congress, which broadcasted the Gospel to a global audience. The YouTube channel achieved a historic milestone by surpassing 2 million subscribers, doubling its base from the previous year and generating record engagement through "Sunday Sermons "Bishop Barron Presents." To celebrate the apostolate's 25th anniversary, we launched a major documentary project on French Gothic architecture and initiated the "10,000 Rosaries" digital campaign, fostering a global community of prayer. Our digital platforms experienced continued growth, with Bishop Barron's YouTube channel, podcasts, and social media content reaching millions of viewers and listeners. Core content series such as Sunday Sermons and Bishop Barron Presents continued to foster deeper engagement with the Catholic faith and invite audiences into ongoing formation and conversion. We further expanded our media capabilities through enhanced studio production, enabling high-quality video content and in-depth conversations with leading voices in theology, culture, and public life. Additionally, our website and digital ecosystem saw significant increases in traffic and engagement, extending the reach of its evangelization efforts to a broader global audience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 54.8%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 72.7%; rating input score 73; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.6%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.16; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 59% of revenue deployed · 54.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $14.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $228K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $856K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.