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MinistryWatch is an independent, non-profit evangelical organization that acts as a donor advocate for Christian stewardship. Founded in 1998, it evaluates Protestant ministries on their financial accountability and transparency to help donors make informed giving decisions.
Core Mission & Activities
The organization aims to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the Christian ministry marketplace through several key strategies:
Investigative Journalism: They conduct original reporting to expose waste, fraud, and abuse.
Ministry Ratings: They maintain the MinistryWatch 1000 Database, which tracks the largest ministries in the U.S. and provides financial efficiency ratings (1 to 5 stars) and transparency grades (A to F).
Donor Alerts: They issue Donor Alerts to warn about potential financial pitfalls or fraudulent activities.
Advocacy: MinistryWatch strongly advocates for all ministries to release their IRS Form 990 and opposes the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in ministry settings.
Key Ratings & Evaluations
MinistryWatch uses specific metrics to help donors assess the integrity of a ministry:
Donor Confidence Score (DCS): Introduced in 2022, this score (0–100) is based on 20 questions regarding transparency, accountability, and governance.
Withhold Giving List: Ministries with a Donor Confidence Score of 49 or lower are categorized as “Withhold Giving” outliers that donors are encouraged to avoid.
Shining Light Ministries: Conversely, they highlight exemplary organizations that demonstrate faithful service and financial integrity.
Organization Profile
President: Warren Cole Smith.
Founder: Howard “Rusty” Leonard.
Headquarters: Matthews, North Carolina.
Funding: They are entirely independent and do not accept advertising dollars or money from the ministries they cover.
You can search their full database of nearly 1,000 ministries directly on the official MinistryWatch website to find reports on specific organizations.