Ohio · Nonprofit
International Friendships Inc
International Friendships Inc (Ohio) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,105,119 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($382,974). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2023
- $4.3M
- Funders on record
- 39
- Grants received
- $2.1M
- Net assets
- $4.2M
What International Friendships Inc does
Mission
IFI serves the physical, social and spiritual needs of international students through followers of Jesus who offer hospitality, welcoming activities, practical help, and discipleship training so the blessings of Jesus are spread to all nations.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990.
Programs
Campus Ministry Teams - IFI works to serve, teach, and mentor an increasing number of international students, scholars, and their families out of love for Jesus. Funds appropriated for Campus Ministry are used to facilitate these activities in order to see God's love extended globally in partnership with spiritually vibrant international students. During the year the campus ministry staff, in collaboration with volunteers and churches, organized social, cultural, and spiritual activities that served approximately 5000 international students and scholars on 42 university campuses in the U.S.
$1,992,128 spent$12,041 earned by the program66% of program spendingServices to International Students and Scholars - IFI staff and volunteers conduct English Conversation Clubs and provide conversation partners to help international students and scholars and their spouses improve their English speaking and listening skills and help them navigate the complexities of American language and culture. IFI also provides internships for recently graduated, spiritually vibrant international students during their OPT year. IFI finds housing and/or employment for some of these student leaders involved in internships, and takes internationals to conferences about following Jesus to encourage their spiritual growth and develop deeper friendships.
$707,830 spent23% of program spendingPartnering with Churches and Volunteers - IFI works with churches to help them fulfill their desire to love the stranger and impact the world by providing a means for them to practice Biblical hospitality. IFI has over 145 church partners and 1,240 active volunteers. IFI staff members work closely with volunteers from local churches to provide various services that address the social, cultural, and spiritual interests and needs of international students and scholars. The objectives for engaging churches and volunteers are: 1) train them in fulfilling God's command to love the strangers among us in practical ways short-term and 2) serve as a bridge between people interested in impacting people in other countries and their opportunity to impact people from others countries while they are here locally.
$148,253 spent5% of program spendingOTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Services to International Students and Scholars - IFI staff and volunteers conduct English Conversation Clubs and provide conversation partners to help international students and scholars and their spouses improve their English speaking and listening skills and help them navigate the complexities of American language and culture. IFI also provides internships for recently graduated, spiritually vibrant international students during their OPT year. IFI finds housing and/or employment for some of these student leaders involved in internships, and takes internationals to conferences about following Jesus to encourage their spiritual growth and develop deeper friendships. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 5: Sudan School - a former IFI Intern, who is now an IFI employee, serves refugees in Sudan who were displaced from the Nuba mountains due to aerial bombardment. The Nuba refugee children were denied access to government schools and medical care. IFI's employee built and began operating a school providing education for these children. The school facilities continued to expand gradually to accommodate more students. In this way funds designated to this service are used…
$169,342 spentof which $138,987 as grants$25,220 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,017,553.
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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $2.6M to $4.0M (+52%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 12% · 2021 4% · 2022 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of International Friendships Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Richard Mendola
CEO
Board chair
Rick Negley
Chairman
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $125k → $323k.
13 of 39 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 70% 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 International Friendships Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 39 funders by total. 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
International Friendships Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
74% 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 International Friendships Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 61% · 2018 51% · 2019 33% · 2020 37% · 2021 29% · 2022 24% · 2023 26% — 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
65% of International Friendships Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% give in more than one year at all.
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
70% of International Friendships Inc's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $624k that is directly attributable, 82% of it comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.
Against its field
International Friendships Inc is better cushioned than half of the 2,188 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,188 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2023
Organizations like International Friendships Inc
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 9 states
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Commission Possible LLC · disregarded
- Commission Possible LLC II · disregarded
- High Street Holdings LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for International Friendships Inc: 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.
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 International Friendships Inc?
- International Friendships Inc (Ohio) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,105,119 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($382,974). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does International Friendships Inc have?
- IRS filings report 39 organizations giving $2,105,119 in grants to International Friendships Inc, 25 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of International Friendships Inc?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $382,974 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like International Friendships Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds International Friendships →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2017–2023), and the filings of 39 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