You know with all this nonsense being exposed within the church community, those YouTube videos I have been viewing taught me something valuable, look into these 501(c)3 organizations a little bit closer. Indeed, indeed. I did research and stumbled upon an organization you can pay to join, and they give you more info than the actual form 990 through the IRS (now I am guessing at that because I did not sign up with them). They let you view so much and then they have you captivated to join or not to view the section about other employees within the organization. I was not interested in going that route but would have liked to have viewed the other team players within a ministry and what they were actually making as a salary.
It also states somewhere on the form that the public has the right to view a copy of the form 990 if requested by them. I believe you request a copy of the form submitted in writing and they have to oblige you. So, there is interesting stuff tucked in these forms. You can see the section listing compensation current officers, director, trustee & key employees. In the one ministry it listed the President, the main minister that would be in this organization and there were 2 categories compensation from the organization & related organizations with both listing dollar amounts. It also lists the number of hours they work per week. Several of the officers within this ministry were just listed with the hours worked per week but with no compensation. There was 1 officer that was listed as working 2 hours per week and there was a slight dollar amount listed and maybe they received 1099 form. The main minister was also listed as a form 1099. The director was listed as working 2 hours a week but no compensation after their name. Another director listed as working 0.50 per week with no compensation also. The treasurer was listed as working 2 hours per week but no compensation. Then there was a name listed as being under the category highest compensated employees with working 38 hours per week and a nice salary listed for them. There was another category in which the rest of the employees are lumped together in a total listed for their compensation and I think benefits. There is a myriad of other categories like land, depreciation and for other salaries & wages. There was a section for grants given and the amount and the organization given to.
Once you find the ministry organization you can then select the year listed and then select the pdf of the 990 and it populates. This was odd, on another ministry I selected the year, and it reflected there was one for a particular year and I tried several times to select it, and it would redirect saying the website was not found. In that case I would guess you reach out to them and in writing request a copy of the form 990 for that particular year if indeed it was filed. Please note that since this is a form of taxes submitted, they would be behind 1 year just like filing your taxes. So, if you select the form 990 for 2022 you will actually be seeing the figures for the year 2021. In both instances I did not see a year 2023 to select. Maybe this is a form not required to file. So, if following the pattern, the year 2023 would actually be the figures submitted for 2022.
I found it rather interesting in the other ministry I looked up. I do not even know if this is ethical within a ministry that there is a president listed, and all the other officer titles goes to another person and no board members listed. So, I would guess in that case, the 2 people make all decisions with that ministry and don't run them across a board? Not sure of the answer to that but in God's kingdom that presents a possible red flag I would guess that no one is the sounding board of reason for that ministry back then when they were set up like that. I also found under the listing of land, equipment and other there was a dollar amount listed then another dollar amount listed under the category of accumulated depreciation which was quite a large dollar amount then reducing the book value down considerably. I wonder how one determines the accumulated depreciation amount; Wow is there a formula or book they follow in figuring out that amount? Wow, the main person within this ministry worked 75 hours per week and the other that was listed as the other 3 officers worked 25 hours per week. It also states somewhere on the form they review the effectiveness of all other ministries it supports. I think that is in regard to the ministries they either gave grants to or money to. It does state that upon written request 990 tax return is available to the public for inspection.
I am not sharing anything with you all that is not public knowledge and is out there for you to look up also. You need to have the correct name of the ministry and address, and I think it even lists somewhere their ein number if I am not mistaken. There must have been a change of some sort within the one ministry because the last couple of years they then listed a total of 3 individual officers and then maybe 10 board members. Maybe I read it wrong in this organization, but I do not think I saw a Secy listed. They gave a good amount of cash or grant to 3 ministries along with some to their organization listed.
It also lists their accounting firm and their address that prepared the tax form for them. In 1 instance the others listed give an actual mailing address meaning street listing, etc. In 1 instance it listed the accounting firm as a po box number, and I thought it was a bit odd the post office box number began with a 1 and followed a sequential series of gradual numbers going up for its po box number. I do not know why that stood out to me but it did, you know like this as an example 7,8,9,10. Do some research and get some knowledge before you begin to be a faithful donor to a ministry. The info is out there for the public to see so see it. I told you this would be very interesting indeed, didn't I.
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