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Michigan · Nonprofit

LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION

LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION (Michigan) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $995,200 to it, the largest being THE ROY D AND INGABORG G RANDOLPH MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT FUND ($288,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$4.2M
Funders on record
18
Grants received
$995k
Net assets
$10M
12/18 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 6%
01What it does

What Lutheran Heritage Foundation does

Mission

To translate, publish, distribute, and introduce historic lutheran books and materials primarily used in the training of pastors, teachers, and lay leaders.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. The Lutheran Heritage Foundation (lhf) fulfills the great commission found in the book of matthew by translating, publishing, distributing, and introducing lutheran resources that are bible-based, christ-centered, and reformation-driven so that the church may increase. In order to carry out this work lhf utilizes individuals worldwide who serve as translators, reviewers, editors, general linguists, and theological specialists in order to provide the most accurate translations possible. Since inception in 1992 lhf has published 1766 titles in 187 different languages amounting to over 6,581,475 books printed. During 2025 over 111 titles were printed in 48 languages amounting to over 414,000 books/pamphlets being printed during the year. This included first time publications in 3 new languages a significant publishing accomplishment during the year was the printing of the simplified chinese book of concord in a two-volume set and the reprinting of the swahili book of concord. Other portions of the book of concord, bible commentary, luther's works, and devotional materials were also published in a variety of languages. The topical series of what about? Pamphlets written by former…

    $2,071,063 spent
    76% of program spending
  2. N/a

  3. N/a

  4. Employee compensation and foundation overhead that is allocated to program services.

    $670,661 spent
    24% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,741,724.

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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($2.0M) Expenses 100 ($2.3M) Net assets 100 ($5.8M)2018 Revenue 119 ($2.4M) Expenses 108 ($2.5M) Net assets 97 ($5.7M)2019 Revenue 130 ($2.6M) Expenses 108 ($2.5M) Net assets 102 ($5.9M)2020 Revenue 102 ($2.0M) Expenses 103 ($2.4M) Net assets 97 ($5.7M)2021 Revenue 325 ($6.6M) Expenses 108 ($2.5M) Net assets 168 ($9.8M)2022 Revenue 141 ($2.8M) Expenses 116 ($2.7M) Net assets 163 ($9.5M)2023 Revenue 127 ($2.6M) Expenses 158 ($3.7M) Net assets 160 ($9.3M)2024 Revenue 151 ($3.0M) Expenses 149 ($3.4M) Net assets 162 ($9.4M)2025 Revenue 208 ($4.2M) Expenses 159 ($3.7M) Net assets 179 ($10M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (208)Expenses (159)Net assets (179)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $5.8M to $9.8M (+67%).

$6.0M
$5.7M
$6.0M
$5.8M
$9.8M
$9.5M
$9.5M
$9.5M
$10M
'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

Government-grant reliance: 2021 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

90% of LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 2,744 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$295k
’17
−$99k
’18
$131k
’19
−$328k
’20
$4.1M
’21
$158k
’22
−$1.1M
’23
−$398k
’24
$508k
’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.

Board chair

Richard Nuffer

Chairman

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed171517171716161717
Joined·+0+2+1+3+1+3+1+1
No longer listed·20132301
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 10 funders, grant income fell $130k → $121k.

6 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION’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

LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

40% 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 LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION.

29%
largest funder
53%
top three
~7
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 59% · 2018 49% · 2019 42% · 2020 50% · 2021 48% · 2022 36% · 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

58% of LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION draws 87% of its grant income from funders outside Michigan, across 7 states in all.

MN
MI
IA
PA
MO
NC
TX

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Michigan out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $194k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,325 religion nonprofits its size.

Operating margin12% · above the median
Months of reserve1.4mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)10% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,325 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION

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 Michigan

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

75% of spending goes to programs.

Program 75%Management 15%Fundraising 10%

Governance

15
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

70%

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

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION: 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 LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION?
LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION (Michigan) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $995,200 to it, the largest being THE ROY D AND INGABORG G RANDOLPH MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT FUND ($288,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $995,200 in grants to LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION?
THE ROY D AND INGABORG G RANDOLPH MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $288,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. 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 Lutheran Heritage →

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 18 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