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Word of Life Foundation Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Word of Life Foundation Inc

The foundation is operated for the support and furtherance of the religious, charitable, and educational tax-exempt purposes of word of life fellowship inc.

$29M
Granted FY2025still arriving
52
Grants FY2025still arriving
19
States reached
$27M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Religion$132MEducation$4.4MInternational$827kYouth Development$782kHuman Services$700kRecreation & Sports$136kPhilanthropy$108kHousing & Shelter$106kOther$0
02FY2025 · 52 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $87k
  • $10k–50k32 grants · $731k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $463k
  • $250k+2 grants · $28M
$20,000
Median grant
19
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Word of Life Fellowship Inc$27,324,004
Finish Line Ministries International$330,000
Appalachian Bible College$138,600
Serve Syracuse$100,000
Vision USA Church Planting$62,000
Abide International$60,000
Local Church Evangelism Inc$52,100
Keep Believing Ministries$50,000
This Is My Story Inc$47,900
Pioneers Inc$43,300
SCORE International Inc$39,465
Columbus Crusaders$38,000
Mesa Global$36,800
By The Hand$35,000
Davis College$33,300
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $242k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Salt Network: $100k → 17%Christian Culinary Academy: $13k → 13%Christian Culinary Academy: $12k → 13%New Hope Family Services: $13k → 14%New Hope Family Services: $13k → 14%New Hope Family Services: $13k → 14%New Hope Family Services: $12k → 14%SON Ministries: $7k → 15%New Hope Family Services: $12k → 14%New Hope Family Services: $12k → 14%New Hope Family Services: $12k → 14%New Hope Family Services: $12k → 14%New Hope Family Services: $12k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
WA
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
IN
OH
PA
CA
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
AZ
NM
TN
NC
SC
OK
MS
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$167M · 78 repeat orgs$568k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

78 repeat relationships: 46 still active in FY2025, 32 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

78
26

Total granted

$167M
$561k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+19%

Still filing today

58%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
ReligionHuman ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentInternationalArts & CultureOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • WO
    WORD OF LIFE FELLOWSHIP INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $139M · revenue +49% · 49% of their budget
  • FL
    FINISH LINE MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
    9× · 2017–2025 · $3.0M · revenue +87% · 53% of their budget
  • AB
    APPALACHIAN BIBLE COLLEGE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • GC
    GRIEF CARE FELLOWSHIP INC
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
  • SA
    SALT AND LIGHT COALITION NFPgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +87%
  • AI
    Axia International
    one grant, 2023 · $65k · revenue +24%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Christian Mission for the United Nations Community

Christian Mission for the United Nations Community is a ministry aimed at leading the head of every nation and other top leaders to faith in Jesus Christ and helping them to walk in dependence upon God as they discharge the…

—
2
Christianity Today International

Christianity Today is a global community inspired by evangelical conviction to advance the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God. Our mission is to elevate the storytellers and sages of the global church.

Religion
3
King Ministries International

To spread the Gospel of Jesus the Christ

Religion
4
Churches in Missions Inc

Mobilization of churches in America by taking pastors and laymen on vision and service trips overseas in fulfillment of Jesus command to go ye into all the world, making disciples...

Human Services
5
Timothy Two Project International

Reaching and teaching pastors in the majority world.

Religion
6
Hal Lindsey Website Ministries

Teaching and Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Religion
7
International Biblical Training Inc

International Biblical Training is a teaching, training and equipping religious ministry. IBT staff provide theological teaching and training for the purpose of making Christian disciples who in turn train and disciple others in…

Religion
8
Crossing Cultures International Inc

Crossing Cultures International, Inc. exists to glorify God by equipping Christ followers globally with comprehensive training for effective ministry.

Religion
9
Tyndale Bible Translators

Bible Translation and acts of Christian Services

Religion
10
Serving Beyond Borders

Serving and pastoring overseas workers on their own turf and equipping nationals by training and empowering them in their work of advancing the gospel.

Human Services
11
Charis Bible College Inc

Charis Bible Colleges, Inc. (CBC) was established to train and equip individuals to carry out the Gospel of Jesus Christ through practical application through mentoring, training, and teaching.

Religion
12
CrossTalk Global

CrossTalk Global is a Christian educational organization that empowers and trains global church leaders to effectively communicate the Scriptures and share the hope of Christ in their communities. These projects are carried out in the USA…

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc; the most unlike its peers is Village to Village Ministries Intern. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

64 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 64 of the 108 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

8
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
22
Early backer (in before they grew)
62/64
Grantees still filing
52/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WORD OF LIFE FELLOWSHIP INC: $139,365,181 · ReligionWORD OF LIFE FELLOWSHIP INC+24 more: $5,935,933 · ReligionROCK CITY CHURCH: $5,550,000 · OtherROCK CITY CH…TREE OF LIFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $3,512,218 · OtherTREE OF LIFE…APPALACHIAN BIBLE COLLEGE INC: $1,597,600 · OtherAPPALACHIAN …Providence Bible Church: $1,310,347 · OtherProvidence B…SERVE SYRACUSE INC: $1,100,000 · OtherSERVE SYRACU…+60 more: $6,089,691 · Other+60 moreMALONE UNIVERSITY: $600,000 · EducationCedarville University: $580,000 · EducationLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $128,120 · EducationThe Moody Bible Institute of Chicago: $90,000 · Education+1 more: $28,947 · EducationFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $639,250 · Youth DevelopmentCHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP INC: $92,400 · Youth DevelopmentKIM'S OPEN DOOR INC: $68,500 · Youth DevelopmentHOPE INTERNATIONAL: $635,000 · International+2 more: $30,800 · InternationalNEW HOPE FAMILY SERVICES INC: $110,100 · Human ServicesSALT AND LIGHT COALITION NFP: $100,000 · Human ServicesWATER STREET MINISTRIES: $100,000 · Human ServicesNATIONAL CENTER FOR LIFE & LIBERTY INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesCHRISTIAN CHEFS INTERNATIONAL: $24,479 · Human Services+1 more: $7,000 · Human ServicesColumbus Crusaders Youth Sports Inc: $168,000 · Recreation & Sports
Religion$145,301,114Other$19,159,856Education$1,427,067Youth Development$800,150International$665,800Human Services$366,579Recreation & Sports$168,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWORD OF LIFE FELLOWSHIP INC: $139,365,181 over 9y, 49% of budgetFINISH LINE MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL: $3,045,000 over 9y, 53% of budgetAPPALACHIAN BIBLE COLLEGE INC: $1,597,600 over 9y, 4.2% of budgetSERVE SYRACUSE INC: $1,100,000 over 6y, 89% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $639,250 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE INTERNATIONAL: $635,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBARNABAS MINISTRIES INC: $620,000 over 4y, 100% of budgetMALONE UNIVERSITY: $600,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCedarville University: $580,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetLOCAL CHURCH EVANGELISM INC: $530,900 over 9y, 36% of budgetKeep Believing Ministries: $451,500 over 9y, 16% of budgetBy The Hand Club For Kids: $315,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetSCORE INTERNATIONAL INC: $272,635 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetChristian Training and Missionary Fellowship Inc: $270,000 over 5y, 23% of budgetVision Ohio: $262,600 over 6y, 20% of budgetTRUTH ENCOUNTER: $225,900 over 9y, 40% of budgetEcuadorian Harvest Ministries: $225,000 over 9y, 24% of budgetDISCIPLESHIP NETWORK OF AMERICA: $200,000 over 9y, 5.1% of budgetDiscover the Book Ministries Inc: $170,500 over 9y, 3.1% of budgetColumbus Crusaders Youth Sports Inc: $168,000 over 5y, 25% of budgetLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $128,120 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFAITH HERITAGE SCHOOL: $120,300 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetDAVIS COLLEGE: $114,900 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetIN AS MUCH AS INC: $113,250 over 4y, 42% of budgetNEW HOPE FAMILY SERVICES INC: $110,100 over 9y, 3.1% of budgetMARS HILL BROADCASTING CO INC: $108,000 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetSALT AND LIGHT COALITION NFP: $100,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetWATER STREET MINISTRIES: $100,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetDominican Advance: $98,398 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetCHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP INC: $92,400 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLinks Players International Inc: $90,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetThe Moody Bible Institute of Chicago: $90,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCentral Missionary Clearinghouse Inc: $81,800 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetThis Is My Story Productions Inc: $73,900 over 2y, 62% of budgetNATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC: $72,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKIM'S OPEN DOOR INC: $68,500 over 3y, 9.5% of budgetAxia International: $65,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER OF TIDEWATER INC: $50,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetBACK TO THE BIBLE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetInterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA: $43,400 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetENGINEERING MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL USA: $32,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBelhaven University: $28,947 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH SLOPE BAPTIST MISSION INC: $27,200 over 2y, 8.8% of budgetCLAY COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $26,000 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetHIGH BRAES REFUGE INC: $25,400 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetBIBLE BROADCASTING NETWORK INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR LIFE & LIBERTY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCHRISTIAN CHEFS INTERNATIONAL: $24,479 over 2y, 9.4% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds WORD OF LIFE FELLOWSHIP INC ↗
  • Who funds FINISH LINE MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds APPALACHIAN BIBLE COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds SERVE SYRACUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES ↗
  • Who funds HOPE INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds BARNABAS MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds MALONE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Cedarville University ↗
  • Who funds LOCAL CHURCH EVANGELISM INC ↗
  • Who funds Keep Believing Ministries ↗
  • Who funds By The Hand Club For Kids ↗
  • Who funds SCORE INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Christian Training and Missionary Fellowship Inc ↗
  • Who funds Vision Ohio ↗
  • Who funds TRUTH ENCOUNTER ↗
  • Who funds Ecuadorian Harvest Ministries ↗
  • Who funds DISCIPLESHIP NETWORK OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds Discover the Book Ministries Inc ↗
  • Who funds Columbus Crusaders Youth Sports Inc ↗
  • Who funds LIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds FAITH HERITAGE SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds DAVIS COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds IN AS MUCH AS INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW HOPE FAMILY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds MARS HILL BROADCASTING CO INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Barnabas Ministries I…Christian Community F…Chattanooga Christian…Servant FoundationThe Signatry Charitab…South Carolina Christ…R B Hazard Family Cha…Columbus FoundationThe Bolick FoundationEden Bridge FoundationNatl Christian Charit…Renaissance Charitabl…
Barnabas Ministries IncNY24.2× affinity9 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Barnabas Ministries Inc · Christian Community Foundation Inc · Chattanooga Christian Community Foundation · Servant Foundation · The Signatry Charitable Trust · South Carolina Christian Foundation · R B Hazard Family Charitable Trust · Columbus Foundation · The Bolick Foundation · Eden Bridge Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Word of Life Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Word of Life Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    7get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Word of Life Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Word of Life Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 108 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Word of Life’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home