Young Life: CEO salary, finances and where donations go
“A ministry to help adolescents around the world become exposed to the person of jesus christ.”
Data only Figures straight from the filing, screened by our rules. Not yet reviewed in depth by a CPA.
Methodology by Amir Arani, CPA, CA · Updated
We screen every filing against twelve rules. A flag is a prompt for a closer look, not a finding of wrongdoing.
No reported asset diversions, no insider transactions, no fundraisers keeping most of the money, and the governance policies we check for are in place.
For each dollar donated, Young Life spent 8¢ on fundraising, or about 8¢ counting joint costs.
Fundraising ÷ $464.2M contributions · Form 990 Parts VIII, IXThe charity's own description of its largest programs, with what each cost.
Week-long summer camps and school season weekend camps and activities are offered to students each year. Young life owns and operates 25 world class camping facilites and runs 7 more seasonal camping opportunites through affiliate camping relationships. A total of 134,033 campers and guests were served.
Grants and allocations to similar 501(c)(3) organizations and foreign charitable organizations with a similar exempt purpose.
Net assets at each fiscal year end, 2013 to 2025.
Reportable pay in FY ending Sep 2025, from the charity and related organizations.
| Contractor | Service | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Avaap USA LLC | Consulting | $2,317,392 |
| Wd Market Desk LLC | Consulting | $2,274,801 |
| Jordan Foster Construction LLC | Construction | $1,702,165 |
| Shift Paradigm | Consulting | $579,089 |
| Aqua Pools Group LLC | Pool construction and rennovation | $366,711 |
Short, sourced answers. Each one stands on its own.
Newt Crenshaw, President/CEO, received $539,510 in reportable compensation in FY ending Sep 2025, 0.1% of Young Life's $535.8M in spending.
Form 990 (FY ending Sep 2025), Part VIIYoung Life reported 84.8% of FY ending Sep 2025 spending as programs, 6.6% as fundraising and 8.5% as management. That includes $344K of joint mail and ad costs counted as programs; without them, programs were 84.8%.
Form 990 (FY ending Sep 2025), Part IXNet assets were $398.5M at the end of FY ending Sep 2025, about 8.9 months of spending.
Form 990 (FY ending Sep 2025), Part XIts latest Form 990 triggered none of our twelve screening rules, which cover reported asset diversions, insider transactions, fundraiser costs, governance policies and spending patterns.
Form 990 (FY ending Sep 2025)Amir Arani, “Young Life: CEO salary, finances and where your dollar goes,” Charity Math, updated 2026-11-07. https://charitymath.com/charities/young-life/