Tennessee · Nonprofit
WALKING THE TEXT
WALKING THE TEXT (Tennessee) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,779,154 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($1,606,850). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.3M
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $2.8M
- Net assets
- $5.2M
What Walking the Text does
Mission
The organization provides Biblical resources through online teachings, podcasts, seminars, study trips, and videos and media that help people to understand the Bible more thoroughly from its original cultural, historical, and geographical context in order for them to understand and live out its teachings and principles better.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Walking The Text provides scholarships to individuals desiring to participate in study trips to Biblical lands. This year all trips were cancelled due to the unrest in the Middle East. We received scholarship gifts (totaling $159,180 listed below) for individuals this year which will be applied to next years trips. Generally individuals accepted for scholarships are actively involved in ministry, Biblical teaching or leadership, or students studying ministry and/or Biblical studies. We earmark 20K of total donations received to give away in scholarships regardless of how the donor specifies the gift. Expense total is reflected in section IX column B line 2, 1/3 of line 5B (which equals $178,903), 1/3 line 20 ($21,554), line 24a and line 24c . Revenue total is reflected in section XIII line 2a. This year since all trips were cancelled there was no income for this program.
$212,641 spentof which $159,180 as grants23% of program spendingWalking The Text provides opportunities for churches and organizations to host live events where founder/director Brad Gray, (and other Biblical teachers including Content Director Brad Nelson) speaks and teaches on the Bible. The format is generally (but not limited to) weekend services at a church, live weekend workshops, or an annual 3-day Biblical conference (IBC). This year also included hosting screenings for the film we released this year--The Lord's Prayer. This year we had the opportunity to speak to the Buffalo Bills NFL team alongside their chaplain to name one of the unique opportunities we were involved in. We also led events in Indiana, Washington DC, Tennessee, Georgia, Colorado and Florida to name a few. Expense total is reflected in section IX column B lines 17, line 19, 24b, 24e, 1/3 line 5B (which equals $178,903), and 1/3 line 20 ($21,554). Revenue total is reflected in section XIII line 2b.
$357,948 spent$16,016 earned by the program38% of program spendingWebsite content and development including weekly video teachings, website updates, podcast development, and other resource information which is available for free to users on our website. Our main website Walking The Text is not a revenue generating service that we provide, rather we strive to offer the best resources on the subject of the Bible for free to everyone. There is information listed about study trips, speaking at conferences or churches, and/or future events listed on the website in which people can sign up for. Users also have the opportunity to donate to Walking The Text online. Parts of the website was revamped this year in order to give users a more friendly and easy website to navigate all the while maintaining the highest quality website possible. The film The Lord's Prayer was released in November 2025 and is now streaming on Angel. We do receive royalties through an LLC from this which is exempt. We created a new website www.thelordsprayer.com. Season 1 of The Sacred Thread releases in March 2026 and the new website is www.thesacredthread.com. Expense total is reflected in section IX 1/3 line 5B (which equals $178,903), 1/3 line 20 ($21,554), line 11a column B,…
$359,258 spent$70,221 earned by the program39% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $929,847.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $3.5M to $5.2M (+51%).
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 4% · 2021 0% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of WALKING THE TEXT’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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
Brad Gray
President Executive Director
Board chair
Nathan Young
Board Chair Member
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $61k → $459k.
10 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% 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 WALKING THE TEXT’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
WALKING THE TEXT leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
78% 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 WALKING THE TEXT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 51% · 2019 45% · 2020 64% · 2021 72% · 2022 83% · 2023 45% — 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
67% of WALKING THE TEXT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
78% of WALKING THE TEXT'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 $615k that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from funders outside Tennessee, across 6 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
WALKING THE TEXT runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters 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 WALKING THE TEXT
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 Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 4 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Lords Prayer Movie LLC · disregarded
- Sacred Thread LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WALKING THE TEXT: 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 WALKING THE TEXT?
- WALKING THE TEXT (Tennessee) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,779,154 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($1,606,850). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WALKING THE TEXT have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $2,779,154 in grants to WALKING THE TEXT, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WALKING THE TEXT?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,606,850 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WALKING THE TEXT find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 Walking the Text →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 18 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