Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 1961.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
85 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
27 people listed on the 990; $4.3M paid to officers and key staff.
Gordon P Robertson’s $582K as Chairman / CEO / President is at the 72nd percentile of top reported officer pay among 18 $100M+ religion nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon P Robertson | $582,155 | $586,559 | $579,434 | $601,136 |
| Terry Meeuwsen | $356,359 | $398,638 | $341,115 | $286,395 |
| James R Barr JR | $299,367 | $278,315 | $299,983 | $246,593 |
| Marvin B Edwards | $286,036 | $265,903 | $233,766 | $249,783 |
| David K Griffith | $272,625 | $270,962 | $271,739 | $277,662 |
| Michael Stonecypher | $274,377 | $260,972 | $233,896 | $250,521 |
| Robert L Allman | $272,661 | $256,860 | $225,493 | $240,262 |
| Edie L Wasserberg | — | $120,305 | $137,755 | $264,836 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See The Christian Broadcasting Network INC executive salaries →On this list? Claim this org
2 open jobs right now. See them →
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Preaches the Christian gospel globally through television, social media, and a 24-hour telephone prayer center offering biblical literature, spiritual counseling, and ministry outreach.
Questions for The Christian Broadcasting Network INC
Your first name shows with your question. The Christian Broadcasting Network INC answers here, for everyone.
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International Outreach
In 2020, CBN produced programming and other content in 70 different languages, and broadcast programs to audiences in 174 countries and territories. Since inception, CBN has worked in 146 foreign languages.
Domestic production and airing of christian television programming, internet and radio: the 700 club, a live television program that airs weekdays from CBN broadcast facilities, is the primary program used by CBN to preach the gospel of jesus christ.
The prayer center is a department of CBN that provides scripture based prayer, biblical literature, account service, and product orders to people through CBN'S telephone prayer line, social media portals, and emails. It also performs outbound calling for ministry and fundraising purposes.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | FY21 | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of yearLn 1g | $4.6M | $3.2M | $4.0M | $4.1M | $762K |
| Given inLn 1b | $127K | $123K | $3.3M | ||
| SpentLn 1d–1f | $37K | $304K | $156K | $19K | $48K |
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $21.0M | $55.2M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $26.4M | $27.9M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $27.0M | $25.2M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $147.3M | $190.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $26.8M | $22.8M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $120.4M | $167.4M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $12.4M | $12.4M | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $612K | $612K | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $10.3M | $10.3M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $3.8M | $2.0M | $1.4M | $350K |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $463K | $262K | $201K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $55.4M | $43.4M | $4.0M | $8.1M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $1.0M | $843K | $64K | $137K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $6.7M | $4.6M | $1.1M | $964K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $4.8M | $3.8M | $358K | $640K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $263K | $135K | $116K | $13K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $383K | $112K | $270K | $963 |
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $22K | $22K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $5.9M | $4.7M | $654K | $626K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $1.5M | $452K | $17K | $1.0M |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $2.1M | $1.7M | $200K | $205K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $5.4M | $3.6M | $1.1M | $775K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $4.4M | $3.3M | $972K | $155K |
| TravelLn 17 | $745K | $636K | $80K | $28K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $257K | $207K | $22K | $27K |
| InterestLn 20 | $433K | $77K | $341K | $15K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $8.2M | $6.7M | $1.1M | $479K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $1.7M | $1.0M | $437K | $211K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $135.9M | $126.0M | $538K | $9.4M |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $6.8M | $3.5M | $834K | $2.4M |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $269.6M | $230.4M | $13.5M | $25.7M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Oct 27, 2025 | $282.4M | $267.5M | $14.9M | $234.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Oct 24, 2024 | $300.1M | $283.4M | $16.7M | $218.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Jan 19, 2024 | $294.7M | $295.3M | −$617K | $200.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Nov 3, 2022 | $317.9M | $282.7M | $35.2M | $201.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 ViewingFiled with the IRS Oct 18, 2021 | $313.1M | $269.6M | $43.5M | $167.4M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $313,058,061 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 5 of 8 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $313,058,061 across 11 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $269,571,938 across 24 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $190,224,209 assets, 20 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $167,384,637 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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