Florida · Nonprofit
unfoldingWord
unfoldingWord (Florida) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $22,694,796 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($18,513,720). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.8M
- Funders on record
- 27
- Grants received
- $23M
- Net assets
- $2.3M
What unfoldingWord does
Mission
The Organization exists to see the Church in every People Group and the Bible in Every Language. The Organization catalyzes and equips church networks so that they are empowered and successful in reaching the least reached.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Whole Bible Whole Nation (WBWN): The Whole Bible for the Whole Nation (WBWN) portfolio is designed to equip and empower church networks to reach underrepresented people groups by expanding ministry efforts, training leaders, and facilitating Bible translation. Its primary focus is on building capacity, enabling churches to continue planting new congregations and developing maturity through the translation of scripture. Supporting holistic development, the WBWN strategy addresses various needs and promotes ownership and sustainability. It aims to reduce reliance on external support by providing stewardship training and encouraging long-term planning. One of the Organization's objectives for this portfolio is to demonstrate that Church-Centric Bible Translation (CCBT) is an effective strategy across the world's major regions. There are seven active WBWN programs: Sudan, Islands-Asia, Southeast Asia, Benin, Chad, Iran, and Colombia. In 2025, the Whole Bible for Whole Nation (WBWN) portfolio advanced a scalable, church-led model for Scripture engagement and translation. WBWN phases were formally defined and used to evaluate progress across seven active programs, including a new one…
$4,097,657 spent55% of program spendingStrategic Language Resources: The Strategic Language Resources (SLR) portfolio aims to address the resource gaps and challenges that impede Bible translation, particularly in unreached communities. It provides open-licensed and accessible resources and tools to empower local church networks to lead translation efforts. This approach ensures sustainable access to Scripture in the languages that resonate most with these communities. The portfolio focuses on several key needs, including equipping church networks with resources to reach unreached people groups and translate the Bible into their heart languages. It also aims to enhance accessibility by providing unrestricted access to Bible translation sources and training materials in languages the global church understands. Additionally, it seeks to overcome barriers, such as reliance on all-rights-reserved English resources.In 2025, the Organization continued to expand and strengthen its Strategic Language Resources to support church-led Bible engagement and translation worldwide. The Organization completed English Book Package entries covering 21,102 verses, representing 67% of Scripture, and finalized 30 additional Book Packages,…
$2,155,995 spent29% of program spendingTechnology: The Tools and Technology portfolio addresses the critical shortage of accessible, self-service Bible translation tools for church networks in under-resourced and restricted-access areas. It also highlights the need for global software developers to engage in this ministry. Current translation tools often require advanced technological infrastructure, formal training, and external oversight, creating barriers for many language communities that desire Scripture in their heart language. Key issues being addressed include the spiritual needs of people without access to a complete Bible, technological obstacles, and the fact that existing Bible translation tools typically require internet access, consultants, and complex software. These requirements make them inaccessible to churches in remote areas. Additionally, the initiative seeks to address the persecution and security risks faced by churches in restricted-access regions by providing decentralized, offline-capable solutions that allow them to continue translation efforts safely. Another important focus is meeting the needs of oral cultures and low literacy communities, particularly for unreached people who rely on oral…
$786,305 spent11% of program spendingCatalyzation: The Catalyzation Portfolio serves a vital purpose by equipping church leaders and translation practitioners with Church-Centric Bible Translation methodologies. This initiative provides a global platform for sharing best practices, addressing challenges, and developing innovative solutions. It aims to strengthen collaborative partnerships and networks among churches, translation organizations, and funding bodies while informing and inviting churches and organizations to engage in projects and collaborations. By tackling these gaps, the project will accelerate the availability of Scripture in new languages, promote sustainable translation movements, and ensure that churches remain at the forefront of Bible translation efforts. In 2025, the Organization hosted its fourth annual Global CCBT Forum in Kenya, hosting 85 participants from 30 organizations who spoke 30 different mother tongues. This attendance reflects a 40% increase over 2024, highlighting growing interest and collaboration within the global church translation movement.Since 2017, the Organization has delivered 20,160 training hours across 215 events, equipping church leaders and translation teams worldwide…
$388,167 spent5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,428,124.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.7M to $3.1M (+87%).
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: 2020 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of unfoldingWord’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations 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 8 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
David Reeves
President & CEO
Board chair
Michael Vos
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $444k → $3.3M.
9 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 91% 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 unfoldingWord’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
unfoldingWord leans on a few funders — its largest provides 82% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% 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 unfoldingWord.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 75% · 2019 64% · 2020 72% · 2021 45% · 2022 94% · 2023 82% — 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
50% of unfoldingWord's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% 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
91% of unfoldingWord'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 $2.1M that is directly attributable, 96% of it comes from funders outside Florida, across 15 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
unfoldingWord has grown faster than three-quarters of the 1,325 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,325 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like unfoldingWord
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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% 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 29 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for unfoldingWord: 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 unfoldingWord?
- unfoldingWord (Florida) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $22,694,796 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($18,513,720). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does unfoldingWord have?
- IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $22,694,796 in grants to unfoldingWord, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of unfoldingWord?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $18,513,720 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like unfoldingWord find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 unfoldingWord →
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 27 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