Arizona · Nonprofit
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST (Arizona) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,142,033 to it, the largest being LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION & REFUGEE SERVICE INC DBA GLOBAL REFUGE ($18,545,104). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $27M
- Funders on record
- 69
- Grants received
- $30M
- Net assets
- $5.9M
What Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest does
Mission
We stabilize people during crisis and transition, build a foundation where people can thrive, and preserve dignity and respect for the most vulnerable.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The refugee & immigration services programs help refugees who have fled persecution to rebuild their lives in the phoenix and tucson areas by providing short-term housing, employment assistance, language and self-sufficiency skills training, cultural education, connections to community resources, support for refugee children's education, and women's empowerment programming. Lss-sw served 2,216 individuals.
$10,924,108 spentof which $4,485,485 as grants$153,566 earned by the program47% of program spendingThe aging & disability services programs provide quality, customized in-home services that allow older adults and people with disabilities to live at home, maintain independence and improve their quality of life. Programs also include training and support for family caregivers to help them build their confidence, strengthen skills, and reduce stress; as well as home delivered meals and shopping services for homebound older adults. Lss-sw provided 1,086 older adults and people with disabilities in-home services and delivered 68,769 meals.
$7,384,349 spentof which $464,570 as grants$3,750,770 earned by the program32% of program spendingThe family and community services programs are comprised of family resource centers, basic needs programs, and foster care. Lss-sw operates three family resource centers, part of a network of first things first centers throughout maricopa county, that assist families in metropolitan phoenix and southeast maricopa county. Frcs create healthy environments that support optimal child development and reduce the likelihood of abuse and neglect, through play and learn events, parenting classes, caregiver training, workforce development and connection to community resources. Lss-sw served 1,189 children and 1,748 adults. Foster care recruits, trains, licenses, and supports foster families in caring for children and adults who have been removed from their homes. (continued on schedule o)lss-sw supported 234 foster homes in caring for 337 children and adults. Basic needs programs provide access to families needing support to meet their basic needs through food pantries, emergency shelter, and rental and utility assistance. Lss-sw served 10,061 individuals, provided 6,812 bed nights of emergency shelter, and distributed 6,386 food boxes.
$3,716,196 spentof which $136 as grants16% of program spendingThe emergency services programs, in partnership with faith partners and volunteers, relieve hunger and homelessness for neighbors facing extreme poverty through food pantries, rent and utility assistance, emergency shelter, and case management. Lss-sw sheltered 175 individuals experiencing homelessness, provided rent and utility assistance to 286 families at risk of losing their homes, and distributed 6,386 food boxes to food insecure individuals and families.
$1,075,320 spentof which $85,702 as grants5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $23,099,973.
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 2023 to 2024, from $8.4M to $10M (+22%).
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: 2017 67% · 2018 61% · 2019 61% · 2020 61% · 2021 69% · 2022 69% · 2023 74% · 2024 75% · 2025 73%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (84% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 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
Connie Phillips
CEO & president
Board chair
Amber Mathewson
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 26 funders, grant income rose $2.3M → $4.7M.
14 of 69 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 69 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
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
95% 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 SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 50% · 2019 48% · 2020 55% · 2021 38% · 2022 79% · 2023 82% — 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
50% of LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST draws 66% of its grant income from funders outside Arizona, across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.4M 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.
Against its field
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST's funding base is broadening — from 14 funders to 26 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 119 religion nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $748k on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$748k
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 LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST
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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST: 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 LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST?
- LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST (Arizona) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,142,033 to it, the largest being LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION & REFUGEE SERVICE INC DBA GLOBAL REFUGE ($18,545,104). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST have?
- IRS filings report 69 organizations giving $30,142,033 in grants to LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST?
- LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION & REFUGEE SERVICE INC DBA GLOBAL REFUGE is the largest funder on record, with $18,545,104 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTHWEST find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 Social Services of the Southwest →
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 69 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