Tennessee · Nonprofit
Light Bearers Ministry
Light Bearers Ministry (Tennessee) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,423,329 to it, the largest being WINIFRED STEVENS FOUNDATION ($1,590,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2023
- $2.3M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $2.4M
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What Light Bearers Ministry does
Mission
It is the mission of light bearers to assist the world church in hastening the glorious coming of jesus christ by helping to execute his mandate to proclaim the gospel to all the world.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990.
Programs
Preachas an evangelistic and revival ministry, light bearers is the launch pad for an on-fire team of speakers who exalt christ as the living center of all truth while preaching the full-spectrum message of his word.first, we hold public evangelistic meetings. These are preaching events hosted in local venues throughout the world. The messages are crafted for the specific purpose of introducing christ and his matchless love against the backdrop of the end-time message of bible prophecy.second, we are committed to revival ministry in the church. Evangelism
$609,722 spent37% of program spendingTrainlight bearers is also a training ministry. Those who are won to christ and ignited with the passion of his love are eager to engage in ministry for others. The training arm of light bearers is appropriately called arise, drawn from isaiah 60:1-3. Each training program is designed to educate and equip the followers of christ to arise like the morning sun and shine forth with the light of the gospel.
$550,929 spent$150,719 earned by the program34% of program spendingResourcelight bearers is a media production ministry and a resource center. Our total reason for existence as a ministry is to effectively communicate the gospel and equip others to do the same. Audio, video, literature, and the web play a major role in this mission. There are three ways to access our materials.:listen to our growing library of audio sermons.watch our various video messages, ranging from sermons preached at various events to our digma video series which speaks to the secular culture at large.
$473,346 spent$1,541 earned by the program29% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,633,997.
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 $3.2M to $2.5M (−21%).
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 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
102% of Light Bearers Ministry’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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.
Board chair
Don Otis
Chairman/secretary
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $95k → $23k.
6 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 Light Bearers Ministry’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
Light Bearers Ministry leans on a few funders — its largest provides 66% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
31% 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 Light Bearers Ministry.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 80% · 2019 94% · 2020 56% · 2021 57% · 2022 100% · 2023 99% — growing more concentrated.
“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
38% of Light Bearers Ministry's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
Light Bearers Ministry draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $581k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
Light Bearers Ministry is better cushioned than half of the 2,187 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2023
Government funding Light Bearers Ministry receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $378 on record.
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $378
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Light Bearers Ministry
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 Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
63% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Light Bearers Ministry: 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 Light Bearers Ministry?
- Light Bearers Ministry (Tennessee) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,423,329 to it, the largest being WINIFRED STEVENS FOUNDATION ($1,590,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Light Bearers Ministry have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $2,423,329 in grants to Light Bearers Ministry, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Light Bearers Ministry?
- WINIFRED STEVENS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,590,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Light Bearers Ministry find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 Light Bearers Ministry →
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 10 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing