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SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC

SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC (Texas) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $78,842 to it, the largest being Thrivent Financial for Lutherans ($31,115). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$1.6M
Funders on record
6
Grants received
$79k
Net assets
$3.9M
4/6 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 1%
01What it does

What Southwestern Texas Synod Outdoor and Retreat Ministries Inc does

Mission

Christian summer camp and retreats- camp chrysalis and ebert ranch. Our mission is to provide unique settings and experiences in which youth, aduts and families are strengthened in their relationship with christ.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Provided a programmed ecumenical christian youth camp for ages 7-16, family camp and retreats for people of all ages. Over 1,166 campers attended the summer of 2025. Hosted 2,293 guests in 93 separate retreat events.

    $1,163,875 spent$850,114 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,163,875.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20212021 Revenue 100 ($1.4M) Expenses 100 ($1.1M) Net assets 100 ($3.5M)2022 Revenue 100 ($1.4M) Expenses 119 ($1.3M) Net assets 100 ($3.5M)2023 Revenue 112 ($1.6M) Expenses 129 ($1.4M) Net assets 106 ($3.7M)2024 Revenue 100 ($1.4M) Expenses 135 ($1.5M) Net assets 105 ($3.7M)2025 Revenue 111 ($1.6M) Expenses 131 ($1.4M) Net assets 111 ($3.9M)
20212022202320242025
Revenue (111)Expenses (131)Net assets (111)

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 $3.9M to $4.3M (+8%).

$3.9M
$4.3M
$4.5M
$4.5M
$4.6M
20212022202320242025
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.

2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2022 8% · 2023 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.

$355k
’21
$157k
’22
$214k
’23
−$26k
’24
$184k
’25
5.2
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.

20212022202320242025
Listed1614161617
Joined·+3+11+0+8
No longer listed·5907
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income fell $20k → $14k.

3 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC’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

SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

100% 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 SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC.

39%
largest funder
96%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2020 98% · 2021 73% · 2022 93% · 2023 58% — 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.

Where its funders are

59% of SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES 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 $33k that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from funders outside Texas, across 3 states.

MN
NJ
TX

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

’17
’21
’23
Texas out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $46k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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

Organizations like SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES 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 Texas

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

82% of spending goes to programs.

Program 82%Management 13%Fundraising 5%

Governance

13
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

0%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

TX

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC?
SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC (Texas) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $78,842 to it, the largest being Thrivent Financial for Lutherans ($31,115). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC have?
IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $78,842 in grants to SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC?
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is the largest funder on record, with $31,115 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SYNOD OUTDOOR AND RETREAT MINISTRIES INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 Southwestern Texas Synod Outdoor and Retreat Ministries →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 6 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