Maryland · Nonprofit
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC (Maryland) receives grants from 238 organizations whose IRS filings report $46,722,952 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($9,256,671). 139 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $72M
- Funders on record
- 238
- Grants received
- $47M
- Net assets
- $102M
What Lutheran World Relief Inc does
Mission
Affirming god's love for all people, we work with lutherans and partners around the world to end poverty, injustice and human suffering. Lutheran world relief, inc. Is a subsidiary of corus international. As such this 990 should be read in conjunction with that of the parent entity.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Emergencies and material resources: lutheran world relief responds to natural disasters and conflict-driven emergencies, especially those that affect the world's poorest communities and work with vulnerable communities to help them rebuild after disaster strikes and prepare for future disasters.during the year, we engaged in emergency response and the distribution of mission quilts, school supply kits and baby care kits.
$27,043,546 spentof which $1,976,721 as grants70% of program spendingFood security/agriculture: lutheran world relief works with poor, rural communities around the world to help farmers improve their crops, learn new techniques and tools to increase their yield and attract buyers who will pay more for their products, help rural communities develop productive, resilient and stable economies through an enterprise-based approach that engages the private sector at multiple levels to create profitable partnerships that benefit families and promote rural livelihoods. Lutheran world relief also helps communities protect their agricultural assets in the face of challenging climate conditions and improve their resilience to natural hazards like floods and droughts. We introduced environmentally sustainable farming practices so that communities get the most out of their land while conserving and restoring their natural resources. We also worked with local and national governments to facilitate the protection of natural resources, helping communities assess their vulnerabilities to natural hazards and develop the plans and skills they need to prepare for them.
$8,654,218 spentof which $904,560 as grants22% of program spendingGround up investing, including mountain harvest and farmers market brands: lwr makes impact investments through ground up investing (gui). Gui funds high-impact enterprises that deliver social, economic and environmental benefits for local communities through both debt and equity funding. Gui invests in companies operating across rural markets from agricultural sourcing to production and trading to direct-to-consumer product companies and tech-enabled services providers.
$2,412,300 spentof which $1,080,726 as grants6% of program spendingHelping people in poor, rural communities achieve economic independence through a developmental approach focused on economies built upon the consumption and cultivation of sustainable goods and services.
$478,201 spentof which $26,346 as grants1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $38,588,265.
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 2024 to 2025, from $124M to $157M (+27%).
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 14% · 2018 14% · 2019 13% · 2020 14% · 2021 22% · 2022 10% · 2023 12% · 2024 11% · 2025 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (96% 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020, and between the FY2020 and FY2021, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 58 funders to 103 funders, grant income rose $3.1M → $7.0M.
50 of 238 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.
Left out of every figure on this page: $117k from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest Lutheran World Relief Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC raised.
From the IRS filings of LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 238 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 WORLD RELIEF INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% 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
58% 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 WORLD RELIEF INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 36% · 2019 28% · 2020 19% · 2021 41% · 2022 19% · 2023 11% — 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
45% of LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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 WORLD RELIEF INC draws 94% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 36 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $22M arriving through sponsors registered in 25 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 WORLD RELIEF INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 190 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 190 international nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $161.6M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$143.5M
- Agency for International Development$15.9M
- Department of State$2.2M
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 WORLD RELIEF 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 50 states
Part of a family of 7 related entities
- Interchurch Medical Assistance Inc · exempt
- Corus International · exempt
- Corus Solutions Inc · exempt
- Lutheran Center Corporation · exempt
- Charitable Gift Annuity (5) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF 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 LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC?
- LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC (Maryland) receives grants from 238 organizations whose IRS filings report $46,722,952 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($9,256,671). 139 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC have?
- IRS filings report 238 organizations giving $46,722,952 in grants to LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC, 139 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC?
- MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $9,256,671 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 238 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