Sparrow Ministries Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Sparrow Ministries Mission: To prepare couples to begin well and coach couples gently through the unfolding, ongoing adventure story of their marriage. Sparrow Ministries objective is to support engaged couples in preparation for a life spent together and support married couples through the life stages of their marriage. This will be accomplished by offering workshops for large groups, small group meetings of 5-6 couples over a short term of 4-8 weeks, coaching individual couples on an as needed basis, and training leaders in local churches via speaking engagements.
- Income
- $183,086
- Spending
- $218,780
- Spent on programs
- 54%
- Reserves
- 6.5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 90%
- Employees
- 3
- Volunteers
- 3
- Highest pay
- $91,071, co-executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 66 out of 100. Higher than 46% of charities in its peer group (religion, under $250k).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.5 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 19% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 8% on the year before.
Spending floor
8 of 1554% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 39 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 76 out of 100. Higher than 80% of charities in its peer group (religion, under $250k).
Independent board
5 of 252 of 5 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $3,790 spent. Premarital preparation for engaged couples is provided by Sparrow Ministries through two interrelated offerings. These are a workshop and small group meetings. The first offering is A Marriage Worth Pursuing Workshop which takes place over two days for the purpose of foundation building using God's original design for marriage and covers several marriage-related topics such as communication, finances, in-law relationships, sex & sexuality, etc. In 2025, four workshops were scheduled, two were held and two were canceled. A total of five couples participated in the workshop that was held in January and four couples participated in the workshop held in June . It required 10 planning hours, 20 hours to prepare for the workshop, and 8.5 hours to implement the workshop. In addition to the workshop is Premarital-focused Small Groups which occur over a four week period following the workshop involving five to six couples and a trained couples coach where couples can explore and talk about their upcoming marriage in a safe small group environment. No premarital small groups were held in 2025.
- $4,738 spent. Marriage enrichment for couples is where Sparrow Ministries offers a variety of events to keep marriages strong and growing, or to address issues that may be causing a rough patch in the marriage. These events and offerings can be in the form of a workshop or a marriage-focused small group that may meet for six to eight weeks. A two-day Thriving Marriage Workshop is planned around several topics to be covered: 1. spiritual, emotional, and sexual intimacy; 2. safety; characteristics of marriages that last, etc. through a balance of teaching, gender-based group discussion, and couple time. Other topically based workshops held for couples are Soul Care for Couples, Communicate to Connect, as well as Blended and Blessed. In addition to workshops, topically based marriage enrichment seminars in the form of small group meetings over several weeks are offered. In 2025 there were five Thriving Marriage workshops scheduled, one Soul Care for Couples workshop was scheduled, and two Communicate to Connect workshops were scheduled. Due to lack of participation, only three Thriving Marriage Workshops were held. Three couples attended in February, three couples attended in May, and 10 couples attended in October. The three workshops that were held required a total of 90 hours of planning and preparation time and 18 hours of implementation.
- $101,580 spent. Sparrow Ministries also offers Coaching for couples who have attended either a premarital workshop or a marriage workshop. Coaching is also offered for couples and individuals who have immediate needs and who have not attended a workshop. After a premarital workshop, Premarital Coaching is couple to couple coaching to complement the workshop where couples are encouraged to process the information from the workshop and personalize the help and support they may need to take the next step toward marriage. After a marriage workshop, Marriage Coaching can help a couple better understand the workshop material relative to their personal story as well as work to resolve rough patches in their marriage. In addition to the coaching that results from a workshop, a couple may contact Sparrow Ministries to meet with a coach who can help them through and beyond the rough patches in marriage, when having another couple to talk to, share with, and pray with is really all you need. In 2025, there were 64 appointments for premarital coaching, where either one or both members of the couple attended. There were also 244 appointments for marriage coaching, where either one or both members of the married couple attended. Each appointment required 2 hours of planning and praying as well as 1.5 hours of actual coaching time. A total of 2,508.50 hours were required for these coaching appointments.
- $8,749 spent. Sparrow Ministries believes that healthy marriages and families are the heart and soul of every church and community. With this in mind, Sparrow Ministries will partner with local churches and organizations to better equip, support, and care for the marriages and families in their congregations. Erich and Virginia Becker of Sparrow Ministries make themselves available for Speaking Engagements at church conferences, retreats, and other church venues on topics related to marriage and family. Sparrow Ministries has its own packaged topics or can customize for the unique needs of the church. Sparrow Ministries also offers Coach Training, a program to train couples so that couples who attend Sparrow Ministry workshops can get follow-up and coaching at their home church. In 2025 Sparrow participated in two speaking engagements where 11 couples at one and 80 people at the other were involved and two small group speaking engagements that involved 13 couples in total. The two larger ones required a total of 55 hours of planning and preparation as well as a total of 8 hour for implementation. The two small groups required a total of 70 hours of planning and preparation as well as a total of 27 hours over and extended meeting time to implement.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since August 2019.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.