Church World Service 
The information on this page was last updated 6/18/2025. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
We have one goal: building a world where there is enough for all.
After seven decades moving towards this goal, CWS has the faith and experience to know it's possible. Working around the world, we've seen gardens flourishing in barren land. Migrants and refugees finding home even after every door has been closed. Houses standing strong against nature's worst disasters. That's the power of your compassion at work when it links to human resilience.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Church World Service
PO Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
Website: cwsglobal.org
Phone: (800) 297-1516
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 134080201
CEO/President: Richard L. Santos
Chairman: David Vasquez Levy
Board size: 16
Founder: Seventeen denominations
Ruling year: 2000
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 06/30
Member of ECFA: No
Member of ECFA since:
Purpose
Hunger and Poverty: No child should die from malnutrition, especially when there are long-term solutions ready to take root in each community.
Displacement: More and more families flee home because of climate and violence. But there are fewer places to go. We're leading the charge in strategy and welcome.
Disaster: Preparation, relief and recovery: our disaster response means committing to communities before - and long after - an emergency hits.
Mission statement
Church World Service is a faith-based organization transforming communities around the globe through just and sustainable responses to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster.
Statement of faith
Articles
Donor confidence score
Show donor confidence score details
To understand our donor confidence score, click here.
Transparency grade
C
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Relief and Development
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 172 of 1338 | 23 of 112 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 261 of 1338 | 25 of 112 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 589 of 1338 | 55 of 112 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 221 of 1340 | 25 of 112 |
According to the organization's Form 990, it received $246,658,132 in government grants in 2025.
To understand our financial efficiency ratings, click here.
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 6% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 8% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 5% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 8% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 98% | 99% | 98% | 99% | 98% | 94% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 5% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 8% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 2% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 6% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 86% | 86% | 86% | 87% | 90% | 86% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 99% | 98% | 99% | 100% | 98% | 98% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 83% | 84% | 85% | 87% | 88% | 85% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 1% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 2% | 2% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 6% | 14% | 13% | 1% | 12% | 5% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 7% | 12% | 12% | 10% | 6% | 6% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.50 | 3.59 | 3.47 | 3.33 | 2.91 | 1.93 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.16 | 1.07 | 1.54 | 1.70 | 1.56 | 2.23 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 2.16 | 3.85 | 5.35 | 5.67 | 4.54 | 4.31 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 10.04 | 5.41 | 1.76 | 1.71 | 1.49 | 2.29 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.08 | 0.18 | 0.57 | 0.59 | 0.67 | 0.44 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 4.42 | 2.54 | 0.97 | 0.88 | 0.87 | 1.57 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 9% | 45% | 61% | 58% | 49% | 29% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 10% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 53% | 15% | 11% | 13% | 17% | 37% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Cash | $18,778,901 | $10,524,430 | $5,188,478 | $3,404,884 | $3,999,353 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $31,263,974 | $41,732,819 | $33,338,164 | $29,433,291 | $11,567,133 |
| Short-term investments | $21,143,591 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $71,186,466 | $52,257,249 | $38,526,642 | $32,838,175 | $15,566,486 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $19,578,723 | $17,916,166 | $16,609,730 | $17,822,218 |
| Fixed assets | $193,124 | $790,861 | $866,623 | $801,948 | $29,823 |
| Other long-term assets | $5,052,420 | $8,015,488 | $8,289,796 | $874,501 | $1,335,441 |
| Total long-term assets | $5,245,544 | $28,385,072 | $27,072,585 | $18,286,179 | $19,187,482 |
| Total assets | $76,432,010 | $80,642,321 | $65,599,227 | $51,124,354 | $34,753,968 |
| Liabilities | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $13,146,819 | $29,762,042 | $22,549,820 | $22,086,775 | $6,793,875 |
| Other current liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current liabilities | $13,146,819 | $29,762,042 | $22,549,820 | $22,086,775 | $6,793,875 |
| Debt | $7,477,164 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $365,229 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $13,933,991 | $19,039,870 | $15,592,456 | $3,021,428 | $2,761,618 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $21,411,155 | $19,039,870 | $15,592,456 | $3,021,428 | $3,126,847 |
| Total liabilities | $34,557,974 | $48,801,912 | $38,142,276 | $25,108,203 | $9,920,722 |
| Net assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Without donor restrictions | $21,335,704 | $17,059,988 | $12,820,117 | $11,998,305 | $11,614,284 |
| With donor restrictions | $20,538,332 | $14,780,421 | $14,636,834 | $14,017,846 | $13,218,962 |
| Net assets | $41,874,036 | $31,840,409 | $27,456,951 | $26,016,151 | $24,833,246 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Total contributions | $276,030,537 | $279,392,269 | $216,675,022 | $149,191,777 | $64,361,484 |
| Program service revenue | $2,719,298 | $2,111,098 | $1,060,951 | $1,734,603 | $1,869,343 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $364,994 | $1,762,720 | $315,525 | $272,096 | $216,359 |
| Other revenue | $750,974 | $517,443 | $526,414 | $931,308 | $1,853,765 |
| Total other revenue | $3,835,266 | $4,391,261 | $1,902,890 | $2,938,007 | $3,939,467 |
| Total revenue | $279,865,803 | $283,783,530 | $218,577,912 | $152,129,784 | $68,300,951 |
| Expenses | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Program services | $235,883,799 | $239,857,348 | $190,849,341 | $133,758,667 | $57,873,079 |
| Management and general | $32,668,553 | $33,247,764 | $21,258,479 | $9,022,824 | $3,981,680 |
| Fundraising | $5,534,595 | $6,451,499 | $6,262,139 | $6,221,668 | $5,296,974 |
| Total expenses | $274,086,947 | $279,556,611 | $218,369,959 | $149,003,159 | $67,151,733 |
| Change in net assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $5,778,856 | $4,226,919 | $207,953 | $3,126,625 | $1,149,218 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $5,778,856 | $4,226,919 | $207,953 | $3,126,625 | $1,149,218 |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Richard L Santos | CEO & President | $444,041 |
| Erol Kekic | SVP of Program | $270,823 |
| Joanne Rendall | CFO/COO | $269,853 |
| Thomas Tauras | Regional Representative, Africa | $240,820 |
| Scott Muttersbaugh | Rsc Africa Director | $233,973 |
| Ann Walle | Chief of Staff | $228,026 |
| Jacqueline Burns | Senior Director, HR | $219,640 |
Compensation data as of: 6/30/2025
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 6/18/2025. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
Church World Service was born in the wake of the devastation of World War II. Seventeen Christian denominations came together "to do in partnership what none of us could hope to do as well alone."
In our early days, the CWS family mobilized more than 11 million pounds of food, clothing and medical supplies for war-torn Europe and Asia. In the United States, we began to welcome refugees who were looking to start new lives in safety, resettling more than 100,000 refugees in our first 10 years.
Over the decades, the specifics of our programs have shifted and evolved. The CWS family has grown. And our foundation of collaboration and welcome has remained unshakable. We proudly serve as the toolbox that our neighbors near and far use to build healthy, dignified and safe lives.
Visit: https://cwsglobal.org/about/history/