philanthropy.org | 990 Resource | FAQ Verify yourself
Sign in
Foundry Training Group EIN 86-2914694

Foundry Training Group FY2023 filing

EIN  86-2914694 Religious organization Grand Rapids, MI
Form 990 (PDF)
You’re viewing the FY2023 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2025) →
Compare with another nonprofit →
Is this your organization?
Claim this profile to manage it and share your story.
Claim
Provided by the organization

This section is blank until Foundry Training Group claims this page.

Know this organization? Claim it to add your story

Size
$100K–1M
What they do
Provides biblical and practical training to strengthen church leaders and make theological education accessible.
Leadership
Branson Parler · Director of Theological Education · $56K
Money in and out
$250K revenue, $260K expenses
Bottom line
63% program efficiency

Provides biblical and practical training to strengthen church leaders and make theological education accessible. For fiscal year 2023 it reported $250K in revenue, $260K in expenses, and $46K in net assets.Pt I

Where the money goes · FY2023
Total revenue
$250K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$260K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$46K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$10K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.63 Management & general $0.26 Fundraising $0.11
Program efficiency
63%
of spending reaches programs
Operating runway
1.7mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
-4%
revenue over expenses, this year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2023 · Form 990
Revenue
$250K
FY2023▲ +5%
Expenses
$260K
FY2023▲ +9%
Total assets
$47K
FY2023▼ -20%
Total liabilities
$855
FY2023▼ -29%
Total revenue
$250K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$260K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$46K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$10K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$47K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B63%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 33
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 43
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

3 program services account for $125K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2022.
01

Institute of Ministry Leadership

The Foundry offers seminary-level training on site and packaged in a sustainable rhythm. Our church-centered model focuses on ministry-related outcomes in participants' current ministry context, connecting course learning with the real-life ministry happening in the local church.

$103Kprogram expense
02

Ministry Formation Cohorts

The Foundry's ministry formation cohorts focus on equipping leaders for ministry in a way that is church-centered and uses holistic, hands-on models of learning. Our ministry formation cohorts are for those who are actively serving in some capacity in their church or ministry context, whether as pastors, staff leaders, or lay leaders…

$15Kprogram expense
03

Customized Workshops and Training

The Foundry offers workshops where lay leaders and congregations can be trained in a variety of areas, including biblical and theological training, spiritual formation, and church leadership. In FY22, The Foundry worked with several churches and ministries to provide them with training on specific topics.

$8Kprogram expense

Run this program? Claim this org to tell your story

Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CFoundry Training Group
EINHdr · item D86-2914694
Principal addressHdr · item CGrand Rapids, MI
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.thefoundrygr.org
Year of formationHdr · item Lpending
State of legal domicileHdr · item MMI
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFReligion (X21)
Ruling yearIRS BMFJun 2021

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a3
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b3
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14No
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2022); the FY2023 filing did not itemize Part VII
Branson Parler
Director of Theological Education
$56,100Pt VII · Sec A
Jeff Fisher
Director of Spiritual Formation
$46,450Pt VII · Sec A
Sarah Behm
Director of Operations, President
$42,000Pt VII · Sec A

Jeff Fisher’s $51K as Director of Spiritual Formation is at the 52nd percentile of top reported officer pay among 2136 $100K–1M 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 · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022
Branson Parler$36,944$57,896$56,100$54,669
Jeff Fisher$50,699$47,974$46,450$41,350
Sarah Behm$46,926$43,680$42,000$40,000

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 Foundry Training Group executive salaries →

Are you one of these people? Claim this org to confirm your role

Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants$153K · 61%
Program service revenue$97K · 39%
Contributions & grants61%$153K
Program service revenue39%$97K
Total revenueLn 12$250K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.63 Management & general $0.26 Fundraising $0.11
Program services63%$164K
Management & general26%$67K
Fundraising11%$28K
Total functional expensesLn 25$260K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$37K
Total assetsLn 16$47K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$855
Total net assetsLn 32$46K
Months of cash on handcomputed1.7

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2023 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $37K · Operating expenses/yr $260K
1.7 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $164K · Total expenses $260K
63%
Management & General
Management & general $67K · Total expenses $260K
26%
Fundraising
Fundraising $28K · Total expenses $260K
11%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (2-yr avg) $28K · Solicited contributions (2-yr avg) $153K
$0.18 to raise $1 (2-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $153K · Total revenue $250K
61%
Government reliance
Government grants $0 · Total revenue $250K
0%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $97K · Total revenue $250K
39%
Investment reliance
Investment income $0 · Total revenue $250K
0%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $97K · Total expenses $260K
37%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $250K · Prior year $237K
+5%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $46K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $250K · Expenses $260K
-4%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $47K
—
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $46K · Total assets $47K
98%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) $0 · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) $0 · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $47K
0%
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Branson Parler · Reported title Director of Theological Education · Highest reported compensation $56K · Total expenses $260K
22%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $226K · Total expenses $260K
87%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 63%——
Overhead ratio 26%——
Fundraising cost ratio 18%——
Revenue growth 5%——
Accounting fee ratio 0%——

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Compare

Search another nonprofit to view revenue, expenses, assets, key metrics, and leaders side by side

Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2025 (Latest)$277K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2024$274K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$250K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$237K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

Want to add your own materials alongside these filings? Claim this org

Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2023IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
Names, privacy, and removal requests More

The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.

Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.

We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.

Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.

If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.

Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.

If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.

If you ARE the filing organization, claim this org and add context

Made it to the end? Claim this organization

All figures are derived from public IRS Form 990 filings and are presented without evaluation of any organization. philanthropy.org does not rate, score, or rank organizations, including the peer-cohort and compensation comparisons above.