50 Largest Media Ministries In The Country
MinistryWatch ( MW) profiles public charities, church, and parachurch ministries. According to their profile, they are an “independent donor advocate facilitating the information needs of donors.” They provide ” information on organizations alleging to be charitable and its key leadership in order to identify materially misleading behavior, or wasteful spending practices” as well as the ministries that are running well.
They recently compiled a list of the largest media ministries using Form 990, which most reputable ministries fill out that offers a breakdown of their finances. Despite the general compliance, many ministries have no interest in sharing this material or revealing how much they’re really bringing in, particularly those who preach the prosperity gospel.
“MinistryWatch has identified a growing trend among Christian ministries to identify as churches and thereby withhold their Form 990s. Many of these organizations have a significant media presence. Indeed, some of them are primarily media organizations. They include; Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland. They should likely be on this list, but we have no way of accurately evaluating them.
The biggest mover in the last few years is Family Radio. They used to be led by Harold Camping, a false teacher who famously flamed out after he falsely predicted the return of Jesus back in 2011. They’ve been working hard to shed the stain of that era and donors have responded, especially in 2020, which has seen their revenue skyrocket and net assets go from several million in deficit to tens of millions in surplus.
The top ministry is CBN, which brought in nearly $400M dollars in revenue. Joyce Meyer is high on the list with $112M, John MacArthur’s Grace To You is number 14 with $37M and Ravi Zacharias RZIM, before it imploded and went belly up, was bringing in $36M.
Notably, Ligonier Ministries made the Top 20, bringing in $28M in revenue, but dropping from 14th place to 20th.
To see the complete list and their Form 990’s, click here:
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