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Illinois · Nonprofit

Good News Publishers

Good News Publishers (Illinois) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,138,664 to it, the largest being Stewart Universal Reserve Foundation ($900,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$62M
Funders on record
16
Grants received
$2.1M
Net assets
$55M
8/16 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 1%
01What it does

What Good News Publishers does

Mission

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian publishing ministry of Good News Publishers that exists to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through publishing and other means, in order, by God's grace: to bring people to Christ as their Lord and Savior; to help Christians and the church grow in knowledge and understanding of the Christian life; to bear witness to God's truth, beauty, and holiness, and to the lordship of Christ in every area of life; and to glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in every way.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Bible Publishing The Bible Division publishes the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible and related resources to serve the needs of the global church. The ESV is an "essentially literal" translation created by more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors, emphasizing word-for-word accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning. Since its first publication in 2001, hundreds of millions of copies have been distributed worldwide. In FY2025, Crossway continued to make the ESV available in a wide range of print editions and free digital formats, reaching users in nearly every country. Through global ministry initiatives, Bibles and gospel resources were distributed to pastors, missionaries, students, and ministry leaders around the world, many at no cost.

    $29,424,149 spentof which $196,315 as grants$37,467,370 earned by the program
    65% of program spending
  2. Book Publishing Crossway's book division, launched in 1979, publishes gospel-centered books in print, ebook, and audio formats, focused on proclaiming the gospel and applying God's Word to every area of life. Recent authors include Paul David Tripp, Kevin DeYoung, Dane Ortlund, Nancy Guthrie, Lydia Brownback, Jen Wilkin, John Piper, Kent Hughes, and Joni Eareckson Tada. In addition to new releases, Crossway provides free and discounted books to ministries, supports translation projects, and partners with organizations to extend the reach of biblically faithful resources globally.

    $14,905,811 spentof which $125,519 as grants$19,321,646 earned by the program
    33% of program spending
  3. Tract Publishing Founded in 1938 as Good News Publishers, Crossway began by printing evangelistic tracts and continues to distribute them worldwide to churches, ministries, and individuals engaged in gospel outreach. Digital and Global Ministry Initiatives Crossway invests in digital publishing to expand access to Scripture and gospel-centered resources. The ESV Bible was among the first modern translations released simultaneously in print and digital formats, and today it is freely available online and through mobile apps. Crossway also undertakes major global distribution projects, such as initiatives to place Bibles in the hands of people who might not otherwise have access to God's Word. All of this work is made possible by God's grace, with the aim of honoring our Savior and serving his church, for the glory of God alone.

    $951,656 spentof which $77,808 as grants$908,070 earned by the program
    2% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $45,281,616.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($20M) Expenses 100 ($18M) Net assets 100 ($18M)2018 Revenue 112 ($22M) Expenses 110 ($19M) Net assets 114 ($21M)2019 Revenue 114 ($22M) Expenses 114 ($20M) Net assets 126 ($23M)2020 Revenue 108 ($21M) Expenses 110 ($20M) Net assets 135 ($24M)2021 Revenue 146 ($29M) Expenses 121 ($21M) Net assets 175 ($32M)2022 Revenue 156 ($31M) Expenses 149 ($26M) Net assets 198 ($36M)2023 Revenue 159 ($31M) Expenses 160 ($28M) Net assets 213 ($38M)2024 Revenue 222 ($44M) Expenses 210 ($37M) Net assets 249 ($45M)2025 Revenue 317 ($62M) Expenses 292 ($52M) Net assets 306 ($55M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (317)Expenses (292)Net assets (306)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $48M to $63M (+31%).

$24M
$29M
$29M
$33M
$42M
$44M
$48M
$63M
$77M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$1.9M
’17
$2.5M
’18
$2.2M
’19
$1.6M
’20
$7.2M
’21
$4.1M
’22
$2.8M
’23
$6.4M
’24
$10M
’25
1.4
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Josh Dennis

Chairman of the Board, President, CEO

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

2017201820192020202120222025
Listed19181821252423
Joined·+1+0+3+5+2·
No longer listed·20013·
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $13k → $196k.

11 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of Good News Publishers’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

Good News Publishers leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

56% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Good News Publishers.

42%
largest funder
74%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 98% · 2018 94% · 2019 96% · 2020 89% · 2021 63% · 2022 86% · 2023 25% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

50% of Good News Publishers's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

Good News Publishers draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 5 states in all.

MN
PA
CO
DE
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $979k arriving through sponsors registered in 11 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like Good News Publishers

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Illinois

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

87% of spending goes to programs.

Program 87%Management 12%Fundraising 1%

Governance

11
board members
45%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

39%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 24 states

AK
ME
NH
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
PA
RI
UT
CO
WV
VA
MD
NM
TN
NC
SC
HI
MS
GA
FL

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • American Tract Society · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Good News Publishers: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds Good News Publishers?
Good News Publishers (Illinois) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,138,664 to it, the largest being Stewart Universal Reserve Foundation ($900,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Good News Publishers have?
IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $2,138,664 in grants to Good News Publishers, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Good News Publishers?
Stewart Universal Reserve Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $900,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Good News Publishers find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 16 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing