Summit Ministries 
The information on this page was last updated 2/2/2022. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Our programming consists of two-week conferences for 16-25-year-olds in multiple locations across the U.S. We also offer semester-long programs for collegiate-level students. Our publishing division offers resources for Christian schools, homeschool, and churches. Alumni of our programs are networked around the world with the aim of driving impact in their communities.
We bring the best leaders in America to speak, teach, and write at Summit. It's more than just a classroom experience. It's a network, a life-long experience, a trajectory-changing event. To say that Summit changes lives can sound cliche but it's true. Summit's fingerprints are found on the lives of politicians, business innovators, nonprofit executives, church leaders, and nearly every area of culture.
Culture draws a line in the sand. It says, "Stay on that side where it's safe and boring and predictable." On the other side is a life of purpose, meaning, and impact. Summit invites Christians to boldly step across the line.
We teach students to stand for truth and justice in the most unexpected way.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Summit Ministries
PO Box 207
Manitou Springs, CO 80829-0207
Website: www.summit.org
Phone: (719) 685-9103
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 730792333
CEO/President: Dr. Jeff Myers
Chairman: Julie Ambler
Board size: 9
Founder: David Noebel
Ruling year: 1962
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 12/31
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 1988
Purpose
Summit Ministries desires to see generations of Christians mobilized to transform a broken world.
Mission statement
We exist to equip and support rising generations to embrace God's truth and champion a biblical worldview.
Statement of faith
As a statement of faith, Summit Agrees with and holds to The Apostle's Creed, an ancient profession affirmed by Jesus-followers for more than 1,500 years:
[We] believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
[We] believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
[We] believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic [universal] church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
A
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Camps/Conference Centers
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 840 of 1024 | 20 of 25 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 1001 of 1027 | 25 of 27 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 881 of 1027 | 20 of 27 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 261 of 1024 | 9 of 25 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 6% | 17% | 20% | 21% | 12% | 4% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 3% | 13% | 10% | 10% | 6% | 2% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 48% | 75% | 53% | 46% | 47% | 54% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 3% | 13% | 12% | 9% | 7% | 3% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 52% | 25% | 47% | 54% | 53% | 46% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 82% | 76% | 77% | 81% | 83% | 87% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 101% | 97% | 86% | 106% | 88% | 83% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 86% | 74% | 66% | 86% | 73% | 72% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | -1% | 3% | 14% | -6% | 12% | 17% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | -1% | 1% | 10% | -5% | 8% | 12% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 16% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 0.34 | 0.54 | 0.60 | 0.71 | 0.52 | 0.54 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 6.84 | 3.32 | 3.26 | 4.10 | 3.71 | 4.07 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 2.02 | 1.79 | 1.96 | 2.92 | 1.94 | 2.18 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 3.15 | 8.54 | 7.77 | 4.35 | 3.11 | 4.42 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.32 | 0.12 | 0.13 | 0.23 | 0.32 | 0.23 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 2.82 | 5.93 | 5.35 | 3.17 | 4.19 | 4.26 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 13% | 4% | 4% | 10% | 11% | 8% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 2% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 2% | 2% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 254% | 179% | 160% | 127% | 170% | 171% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Cash | $1,510,680 | $1,794,197 | $953,486 | $1,379,841 | $581,293 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $694,755 | $517,842 | $619,929 | $618,605 | $555,935 |
| Short-term investments | $1,561,360 | $1,474,390 | $1,252,030 | $1,354,718 | $1,551,197 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $3,766,795 | $3,786,429 | $2,825,445 | $3,353,164 | $2,688,425 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $8,256,644 | $8,037,902 | $8,081,171 | $7,925,973 | $7,634,251 |
| Other long-term assets | $490,124 | $519,421 | $682,950 | $1,152,017 | $607,102 |
| Total long-term assets | $8,746,768 | $8,557,323 | $8,764,121 | $9,077,990 | $8,241,353 |
| Total assets | $12,513,563 | $12,343,752 | $11,589,566 | $12,431,154 | $10,929,778 |
| Liabilities | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $386,940 | $350,657 | $445,136 | $1,047,007 | $553,143 |
| Other current liabilities | $54,286 | $136,673 | $203,974 | $32,425 | $55,331 |
| Total current liabilities | $441,226 | $487,330 | $649,110 | $1,079,432 | $608,474 |
| Debt | $0 | $0 | $400,000 | $200,000 | $200,000 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $17,667 | $40,316 | $61,971 | $82,674 | $102,468 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $17,667 | $40,316 | $461,971 | $282,674 | $302,468 |
| Total liabilities | $458,893 | $527,646 | $1,111,081 | $1,362,106 | $910,942 |
| Net assets | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Without donor restrictions | $11,229,420 | $11,179,073 | $7,871,050 | $8,505,784 | $7,457,456 |
| With donor restrictions | $825,250 | $637,033 | $2,607,435 | $2,563,264 | $2,561,380 |
| Net assets | $12,054,670 | $11,816,106 | $10,478,485 | $11,069,048 | $10,018,836 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Total contributions | $5,175,468 | $4,526,356 | $3,573,700 | $3,482,852 | $3,834,566 |
| Program service revenue | $833,801 | $2,931,391 | $3,430,796 | $3,153,855 | $3,147,897 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $7,368 | $81,831 | $49,249 | $53,330 | ($106,871) |
| Other revenue | $885,312 | $1,034,153 | $712,397 | $733,280 | $213,465 |
| Total other revenue | $1,726,481 | $4,047,375 | $4,192,442 | $3,940,465 | $3,254,491 |
| Total revenue | $6,901,949 | $8,573,731 | $7,766,142 | $7,423,317 | $7,089,057 |
| Expenses | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Program services | $5,125,249 | $5,699,029 | $6,671,338 | $5,401,760 | $5,112,904 |
| Management and general | $729,237 | $810,255 | $821,271 | $676,160 | $598,415 |
| Fundraising | $872,818 | $896,976 | $749,567 | $430,821 | $154,493 |
| Total expenses | $6,727,304 | $7,406,260 | $8,242,176 | $6,508,741 | $5,865,812 |
| Change in net assets | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $174,645 | $1,167,471 | ($476,034) | $914,576 | $1,223,245 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $174,645 | $1,167,471 | ($476,034) | $914,576 | $1,223,245 |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Jeff Myers | President | $297,439 |
| Jeff Wood | CFO and Treasurer | $186,036 |
| Aaron Atwood | VP Advancement | $176,038 |
| Joseph Amandee | IT Director | $125,529 |
Compensation data as of: 12/31/2020
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 2/2/2022. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
An alarming number of Christians stumble while in college and around half will renounce their faith because they simply do not have a defense for what they believe. David Noebel, founder and former president of Summit Ministries, almost joined those statistics while he was a philosophy student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Dr. Noebel founded Summit in 1962 to help ground Christians in their faith, thereby enabling them to face the barrage of challenges on college campuses.
The home of Summit Ministries is a turn-of- the-century hotel (formerly known as The Grandview), luxurious by early 20th century standards. Around this hotel, Summit has built its home in a complex of buildings dubbed the Summit Village. This, our home base, is located in Manitou Springs, CO at the foot of Pike's Peak.
From 1962 until 1988, Summit Ministries was a small series of camp-style conferences, hosting an average of 350 students each year. After sending his own son Ryan through our program, Dr. James Dobson featured Summit on the Focus on the Family radio program in 1989, which quickly grew Summit's attendance exponentially. Currently, Summit hosts ten two-week Student Conferences every summer at three locations including their headquarters in Manitou Springs CO, Union University in Jackson, TN and Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, PA. Other programs include the Be and Basecamp Conferences for parents, youth pastors, pastors, and educators and Summit Semester, a gap year program for college students. Currently, about 2,000 students attend a Summit program each year.
In 1991, the Publishing Department of Summit launched a year-long program named Understanding the Times for Christian High School students with the goal to teach Christians how to analyze competing worldviews and to defend their faith. That curriculum has since been expanded to include a complete line of K-12 Bible curriculum for Christian schools and homeschool families. Each year more than 30,000 students use a Summit course each day in the classroom. In 2015, Summit's resources grew to include church and individual materials, including the first church and small group curriculum from Summit, The Secret Battle of Ideas about God.
Today, with its world-renowned Faculty and under the direction of President Dr. Jeff Myers, Summit is viewed as one of the foremost leaders in training Christians in apologetics, worldview analysis, and social engagement.
Program accomplishments
- Summit hosts ten two-week Student Conferences every summer at three locations including their headquarters in Manitou Springs, CO, Union University in Jackson, TN, and Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, PA. Other programs include Basecamp Conferences for parents, youth pastors, pastors, and educators and Summit Semester, a gap year program for college students. Currently, about 2,000 students attend a Summit program each year. Since our inception, Summit has trained more than 60,000 young leaders through our summer conferences.
- In 1991, the Publishing Department of Summit launched a year-long program named Understanding the Times for Christian High School students with the goal to teach Christians how to analyze competing worldviews and to defend their faith. That curriculum has since been expanded to include a complete line of K-12 Bible curriculum for Christian schools and homeschool families. Each year our curriculum is taught to more than 35,000 students in classrooms around the world. Summit's digital content is seen by more than a million people each year via video, podcasts, and articles. In 2015, Summit's resources grew to include church and individual materials, including the first church and small group curriculum from Summit, The Secret Battle of Ideas about God.
Needs
Your support provides life-changing worldview training for tens of thousands this year.
We are living in a post-Christian America. Where once we were "one nation under God" we now find ourselves in a nation in which "everyone does what's right in their own eyes."
We must reach the rising generation with the life-transforming message of God's truth... before it's too late.