Promise Keepers 
The information on this page was last updated 1/8/2024. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Founded in 1990 by Coach Bill McCartney, Promise Keepers is one of the biggest movements of God in the history of the Church.
Focused on helping men live with integrity, Promise Keepers touched the lives of seven million men every year through its national conferences. Our sermons, worship music, and books encouraged men to make and keep the 7 Promises - a foundational set of principles for how men of God can apply Scripture to their daily lives.
That movement culminated on October 4, 1997, when over a million of these men gathered in the National Mall of Washington, D.C. to take a stand for Christ.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Promise Keepers
P.O. Box 63570
Colorado Springs, CO 80962
Website: www.promisekeepers.org
Phone: (303) 964-7600
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 841157834
CEO/President: Ken Harrison
Chairman: Ken Harrison
Board size: 8
Founder: Bill McCartney
Ruling year: 1991
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 12/31
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 1994
Purpose
The new Promise Keepers is committed to connecting men across all denominational, generational, racial, and cultural lines. Our yearly conferences and local PK gatherings - combined with new virtual events and the PK App - give men across the world access to an unprecedented hub of Christian resources. This library of resources includes Bible studies, sermons, and practical courses developed by our incredible partner organizations and ministries, as well as the best Promise Keepers content from the last 30 years. Topics include fatherhood, marriage, faith, and mental health, with additional topics and resources added on a regular basis.
What's more, our quarterly virtual events and everything in the PK App are free to both individuals and churches. Men's groups host local gatherings throughout the year using resources geared specifically towards men and the issues they care about. We also help connect churches with larger organizations like Prison Fellowship for even greater opportunities for outreach and ministry.
Mission statement
Promise Keepers' mission is to ignite and unite men to become warriors who will change their world through living out the Seven Promises.
Statement of faith
1. We believe that the entire Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God: the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and was true Man and is true God.
4. We believe that in this age, God manifests Himself through the Holy Spirit who is a distinct personality, eternally co-existent with the Father and the Son, whose basic task is to convict sinners, regenerate those who believe, and empower believers to live Godly lives and in every way glorify the Father and the Son through His indwelling presence.
5. We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned, and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which was eternal separation from God and is upon all men.
6. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood.
7. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected in body, ascended into Heaven, presently lives there for us as High Priest and Advocate, and that His personal, physical return to earth is imminent.
8. We believe that there will be a bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust, the just to the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the unjust to the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
A
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Fellowship Evangelism
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 527 of 1104 | 13 of 32 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 568 of 1105 | 16 of 32 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 800 of 1105 | 23 of 32 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 247 of 1104 | 5 of 32 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 8% | 8% | 3% | 4% | 27% | 29% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 6% | 8% | 3% | 3% | 26% | 29% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 86% | 99% | 87% | 84% | 94% | 100% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 7% | 11% | 3% | 3% | 20% | 32% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 14% | 1% | 13% | 16% | 6% | 0% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 83% | 77% | 91% | 92% | 54% | 58% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 91% | 72% | 91% | 105% | 127% | 92% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 74% | 55% | 82% | 96% | 68% | 53% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 9% | 28% | 9% | -5% | -27% | 8% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 11% | 109% | -819% | 28% | 168% | 38% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 11% | 12% | 6% | 5% | 26% | 10% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.15 | 1.70 | 13.38 | 12.74 | 7.13 | 1.81 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.42 | 1.22 | 1.00 | 1.02 | 1.02 | 1.00 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 1.61 | 2.08 | 13.42 | 12.95 | 7.27 | 1.81 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 9.62 | 13.01 | 8.58 | 1.03 | 1.54 | 9.68 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.12 | 0.97 | 0.65 | 0.10 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 6.72 | 5.32 | 0.79 | 0.03 | 0.58 | 5.94 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 8% | 40% | 117% | 296% | 190% | 57% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 34% | 105% | 200% | 126% | 47% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 81% | 35% | -1% | -15% | -13% | 24% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Cash | $342,980 | $185,813 | $118,762 | $383,740 | $234,741 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $459,313 | $127,803 | $127,299 | $1,250 | $323,413 |
| Short-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $802,293 | $313,616 | $246,061 | $384,990 | $558,154 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $179,556 | $775 | $4,207 | $7,640 | $0 |
| Other long-term assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term assets | $179,556 | $775 | $4,207 | $7,640 | $0 |
| Total assets | $981,849 | $314,391 | $250,268 | $392,630 | $558,154 |
| Liabilities | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $61,662 | $36,532 | $105,349 | $249,664 | $57,689 |
| Other current liabilities | $0 | $0 | $133,959 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current liabilities | $61,662 | $36,532 | $239,308 | $249,664 | $57,689 |
| Debt | $330,924 | $331,153 | $500,924 | $494,610 | $261,766 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $330,924 | $331,153 | $500,924 | $494,610 | $261,766 |
| Total liabilities | $392,586 | $367,685 | $740,232 | $744,274 | $319,455 |
| Net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Without donor restrictions | $589,263 | ($53,294) | ($489,964) | ($351,644) | $238,699 |
| With donor restrictions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net assets | $589,263 | ($53,294) | ($489,964) | ($351,644) | $238,699 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Total contributions | $2,301,332 | $4,033,655 | $2,568,314 | $2,072,215 | $1,101,232 |
| Program service revenue | $5,347 | $455,715 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $50 |
| Other revenue | $6,488 | $154,995 | $480,836 | $138,107 | $0 |
| Total other revenue | $11,835 | $610,710 | $480,836 | $138,107 | $50 |
| Total revenue | $2,313,167 | $4,644,365 | $3,049,150 | $2,210,322 | $1,101,282 |
| Expenses | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Program services | $1,282,944 | $3,814,874 | $2,925,338 | $1,506,868 | $584,988 |
| Management and general | $203,683 | $269,336 | $164,788 | $729,758 | $104,570 |
| Fundraising | $183,983 | $123,485 | $97,344 | $564,039 | $322,057 |
| Total expenses | $1,670,610 | $4,207,695 | $3,187,470 | $2,800,665 | $1,011,615 |
| Change in net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $642,557 | $436,670 | ($138,320) | ($590,343) | $89,667 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $642,557 | $436,670 | ($138,320) | ($590,343) | $89,667 |
Compensation
Compensation data for this ministry has not been collected.
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 1/8/2024. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
On March 20, 1990, Bill McCartney (then, University of Colorado head football coach) and his friend Dave Wardell, Ph.D., were on a three-hour car ride to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting, and they discussed the idea of filling a stadium with Christian men. Later that year, 72 men began to pray and fast about the concept of thousands of men coming together for the purpose of Christian discipleship. During July 1991, 4,200 men gathered for the first Promise Keepers conference at the University of Colorado basketball arena.
On Saturday, Oct. 4, 1997, PK convened a massive gathering in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall. Hundreds of thousands of men participated in Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men, a day of personal repentance and prayer. Since then 1,600 churches have called sacred assemblies in time of spiritual crisis. Twelve instances are recorded in the Old Testament when the nation of Israel was called to gather for days of fasting, prayer, confession, and repentance of sin because the nation had wandered away spiritually and morally. Stand in the Gap was patterned after such sacred assemblies.
Seventy-two men participated in the first PK gathering, in 1990, in Boulder, Colo.
In 1998, 453,000 men attended nineteen conferences nationwide.