MinistryWatch 1000 Database: Ministries Not Filing a Form 990

List features 224 ministries—an increase of 35 ministries over last year.

This second list for March features the 224 Christian ministries in the MinistryWatch 1000 database that do not file a Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service, up from 189 ministries on the list in March 2025.

The list, organized alphabetically, features some of the largest ministries in the country: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Compassion International, Convoy of Hope, Cru, Focus on the Family, Gideons International, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, The Navigators, The Salvation Army, and Wycliffe Bible Translators.

The Form 990 is an informational tax return required by nonprofit organizations, but church and church associations are exempt. In recent years, more and more Christian ministries have been seeking the IRS designation of a church or association of churches in order to gain the exemption and avoid the Form 990 filing requirement.

The form includes such information as annual revenue, salaries of key employees, names of board members and large contractors, and the amount of money the organization spends on its core mission. It also details an organization’s administrative and fundraising expenses. This information is valuable to donors wanting to assess the effectiveness of a ministry; therefore, MinistryWatch takes the position that ministries should complete the Form 990 for transparency and accountability.

Any ministry in the database that does not complete a Form 990 receives zero stars for financial efficiency and cannot achieve an A Transparency Grade. It also affects the ministry’s Donor Confidence Score (DCS). A ministry not filing a Form 990 loses 25 points on its DCS.

None of the ministries on the list have a DCS higher than 56. Three ministries have a DCS of 0 — Benny Hinn Ministries, Family Broadcasting Corporation, and Joshua Media Ministries.

MinistryWatch suggests donors “withhold giving” from any ministry with a DCS below 50.

Updated annual revenue is not included on the list for these ministries, but if they are a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), some limited financial data is available through the “Find a Member” tab on the ECFA website.

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