North Carolina · Nonprofit
THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC
THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,940 to it, the largest being Robert and Bredow Thompson Foundation ($3,100). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.4M
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $5k
- Net assets
- $7.5M
What The Church Initiative Inc does
Mission
We equip churches to offer christ-centered support groups (divorcecare & griefshare) for people grieving the death of a loved one or suffering from a broken marriage.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, through our groups, books, websites, and other digital communication, we shared the comfort of christ with over 3 million people. Specifically, we equipped and partnered with 9,337 churches to offer over 18,726 griefshare & divorcecare support groups, helping over 131,940 people. We also provided churches with 196,559 participant workbooks, which they distributed to their divorcecare and griefshare group members. Additionally, 10,649 ministry partners (churches) utilized our free coaching, resulting in 39,661 coaching moments. We also recruited over 3,531 former group members to serve on, or start, church-based griefshare and divorcecare teams. And, through our efforts, the gospel was shared with over 131,940 people.
$4,422,935 spent$5,756,671 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $4,422,935.
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. 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 2022 to 2023, from $5.5M to $6.6M (+20%).
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: 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
4% of THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue 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. 1 of the last 5 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
Stephen D Grissom
CEO/chairman of the board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $1k → $24.
1 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 THE CHURCH INITIATIVE 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
THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 63% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 91% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside North Carolina, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $130 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC is better cushioned than half of the 1,211 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,211 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE CHURCH INITIATIVE 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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 THE CHURCH INITIATIVE 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 THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC?
- THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,940 to it, the largest being Robert and Bredow Thompson Foundation ($3,100). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $4,940 in grants to THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC?
- Robert and Bredow Thompson Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $3,100 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CHURCH INITIATIVE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Church Initiative →
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 4 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