International Mission Board

What International Mission Board does

International Mission Board (IMB), legally International Mission Board, SBC, is a private nonprofit religious organization founded in 1845 as the foreign mission board of the Southern Baptist Convention, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia at 3806 Monument Avenue. It operates as the SBC's primary entity for international missions, recruiting, sending, and supporting career missionaries and short-term mission teams to unreached people groups across approximately 150 countries. Core products and services include missionary deployment (3,577 missionaries on the field in 2024), the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering annual fundraising campaign ($207.2M raised in 2025), Cooperative Program-funded operations, short-term mission trip programs (Go Experience, GO Impact, Summer Missions, Healthcare Missions, Residencies), humanitarian relief through the co-operated Send Relief initiative with NAMB, a Pathwright-based training platform, mobile applications (IMB Advance App, IMB Prayer App), an Opportunity Finder listing 104+ trips, and a generative-AI resource suite for church-based discipleship. The organization does not disclose proprietary technology platforms; its technology stack is operational (RaiseDonors for recurring gift processing, Pathwright for LMS, mobile apps) rather than product-oriented.

IMB's business model is funded entirely through charitable giving within the Southern Baptist Convention ecosystem. Revenue streams include the Cooperative Program (IMB receives approximately 50.41% of the SBC national CP budget, distributed through 45,000+ cooperating SBC churches and state Baptist conventions), the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, direct one-time and monthly recurring gifts, legacy giving, and non-cash contributions (IRA, crypto, stocks, real estate, vehicles). One hundred percent of designated gifts are stated to flow directly to overseas missionary support, with administrative costs reportedly covered separately. Short-term mission trips are priced on a unit basis ranging from $990 to $10,308 plus travel costs, and donors can subscribe via monthly recurring gifts. IMB holds ECFA accreditation, GuideStar and Candid Platinum Transparency Seals, and is governed by trustees elected by SBC delegates. Leadership includes President Paul Chitwood (since November 2018), Executive Vice President Todd Lafferty (since February 2019), and Vice Presidents across Global Engagement, U.S. Engagement, Global Business Services, and Human Resources. The organization employs staff across its Richmond headquarters and supports a globally distributed field workforce through partnerships with NAMB, the Woman's Missionary Union, and SBC state conventions.

Name

International Mission Board

Legal name

International Mission Board, SBC

Website

https://imb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1845

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

International Mission Board (IMB) is the Southern Baptist Convention's foreign mission nonprofit, founded in 1845 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. It recruits, sends, and supports over 3,500 career missionaries and short-term teams to roughly 150 countries, funded primarily through the Cooperative Program and the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering raised from 45,000+ SBC churches.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Mission and Religious Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Support Services (611710), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Missions & Evangelism Organizations (Domestic & International) (BPAGAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based & Mission Service Programs (EDAIAGAI), Disaster Relief & Humanitarian Aid Volunteering (EDAIAGAF), Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs (HLAJAKAE), Refugee, IDP & Migration Humanitarian Assistance (BPAGAAAH)

Keywords

• International missionary services
• Religious nonprofit services
• Humanitarian relief programs
• Church planting support
• Mission trip coordination

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Cooperative Program: Southern Baptist churches contribute through the Cooperative Program, a unified giving strategy where funds are distributed among SBC entities. The IMB receives approximately 50.41% of the national Cooperative Program Budget.
2. Lottie Moon Christmas Offering: Annual Christmas offering for international missions that supports missionaries and gospel work. The 2025 national goal is $210 million, with 2025 actual reaching $207.2 million.
3. Direct Gifts and Donations: 100% of gifts to IMB go directly toward overseas work. One-time gifts, monthly recurring gifts, legacy giving, and non-cash gifts (crypto, vehicles, stocks, real estate) are accepted.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The International Mission Board (IMB) recruits, appoints, sends, and sustains career and short-term missionaries on behalf of Southern Baptist churches to reach unreached peoples worldwide. It operates mission trip programs (church, youth, student, healthcare, residency), provides missionary training via a Pathwright-based platform, publishes missiological resources, and runs the Send Relief humanitarian initiative. Funding flows through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, with 100% of designated gifts supporting overseas missionaries.

Product overview

International Mission Board (IMB) is a nonprofit missionary organization that operates as a platform of programs and services rather than a traditional product company. The core offering centers on missionary sending and support, facilitated through multiple engagement channels: the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (annual $207M fundraising program), Go Experience packaged church mission trips, GO Impact youth trips, summer missions for students, and healthcare mission trips. Supporting digital products include the IMB Prayer App, IMB Advance App, and AI Resources for Your Church. The organization provides training through a Pathwright-based platform, publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of Missions, and offers the IMB Store for resources. Key research publications include the Annual Statistical Report and Global Impact Guide. The Send Relief program handles humanitarian aid and disaster response.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Send Relief: A compassionate ministry initiative of IMB that responds to urgent needs with compassion ministry, clean water, medical aid, refugee care, and more.
• The Great Pursuit
• Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
• Project 3000

Products and services

• Go Experience (Packaged Church Trips) Short-term international mission trips of 1-3 weeks for church groups that partner with IMB missionary teams for gospel sharing, church planting, and long-term relationship building in the host location.
• GO Impact (Youth Group Trips) International mission trips specifically designed for high school youth groups to engage in missions alongside IMB missionaries in international locations.
• Summer Missions Trips One to three-week summer and semester mission trips designed for college students to serve in international locations alongside IMB missionaries.
• Healthcare Mission Trips Medical mission opportunities for physicians and healthcare professionals to serve on mission trips that combine clinical service with gospel ministry.
• Residency Programs Multi-month residency placements on the mission field with IMB missionaries for individuals seeking longer-term immersion than standard short-term trips.
• IMB App (IMB Advance App) Mobile application for missionaries and supporters to access prayer requests, missionary updates, and engagement tools.
• IMB Prayer App Mobile application for iOS and Android providing daily prayer requests, monthly prayer guides, and access to missionary prayer needs.
• Send Relief Humanitarian relief initiative providing compassion ministry, clean water, medical aid, refugee care, and disaster response that pairs physical relief with gospel ministry.
• Lottie Moon Christmas Offering Annual Christmas offering campaign through which Southern Baptist churches and individuals give to support international missionaries and gospel work; 100% of gifts support overseas missionaries.
• IMB Store Online store for resources and materials including Lottie Moon merchandise, training guides, books, and mission trip preparation materials.
• IMB Training Platform (Pathwright) Online training platform (Pathwright-based) that equips churches with tools for raising up cross-cultural workers, including mission preparation courses.
• AI Resources for Your Church AI tools grounded in biblical truth created to support discipleship, evangelism, and spiritual growth within church communities.
• Opportunity Finder Online searchable database of 104+ mission trip opportunities across all regions with filtering by location, duration, trip type, and traveler type.
• Prayer Resources Standalone prayer resource product including daily prayer requests, monthly prayer guides, regional prayer resources for specific countries and people groups, and the Middle East Prayer Guide.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,577 missionaries supported on the field
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• North American Mission Board (NAMB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAMB is the SBC entity focused on North American missions while IMB focuses internationally. Both entities coordinate on evangelism and church planting efforts domestically and abroad. They jointly operate Send Relief for humanitarian response.
• Woman's Missionary Union (WMU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWMU created the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in 1918, named after the pioneering missionary. WMU continues to support IMB through promotional materials and women's missions education programs.
• Send ReliefcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint humanitarian relief initiative between IMB and NAMB that responds to crises worldwide with compassion ministry, clean water, medical aid, and refugee care - demonstrating Christ's love with the gospel at the center.
• Southern Baptist State ConventionscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorState Baptist conventions channel Cooperative Program funds to IMB and facilitate missionary sending from local churches. 45,000+ cooperating SBC churches participate.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Samaritan's Purse: Evangelical international relief and missions organization operating in similar geographies with humanitarian aid, missionary deployment, and church partnership models. Comparable in donor base (evangelical Christians) and global footprint.
• Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ): Interdenominational Christian missions organization focused on evangelism and discipleship globally. Operates similar missionary-sending model and partners with US churches for funding and recruitment.
• Wycliffe Global Alliance: Bible translation and linguistic missions organization sending career missionaries to unreached language groups. Highly comparable target market (UUPGs) and church-funded missionary deployment model.
• ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency): Seventh-day Adventist humanitarian and development organization with similar church-funded missionary/relief model operating in restricted-access countries. Comparable scale and field operations.
• Pioneer Bible Translators: Faith-based organization focused on Bible translation and church planting among unreached people groups. Directly comparable mission focus on UUPGs and church-supported missionary deployment.
• Gospel for Asia: Interdenominational missions organization sending missionaries to South and Central Asia with similar church-supported funding model and unreached-people-group focus.

Broad incumbents

• Compassion International: Large faith-based child sponsorship and development organization with similar evangelical donor base and global field operations. Larger and broader portfolio but comparable in scale and church-channel distribution.
• World Vision: Major Christian humanitarian organization operating globally with disaster relief, child sponsorship, and community development. Much larger scale but comparable church-based fundraising model and international field footprint.
• Catholic Relief Services: International humanitarian agency of the US Catholic Church operating in 100+ countries. Comparable global humanitarian footprint and denominational funding structure, though broader scope including humanitarian relief.

Emerging players

• Frontier Ventures (formerly U.S. Center for World Mission): Missions mobilization and research organization focused on unreached people groups. Comparable focus on UUPG mobilization though more research/advocacy-oriented than direct field deployment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/imb_sbc
• YouTubeimb.org/video-gallery
• Facebookfacebook.com/imb.sbc
• Instagraminstagram.com/imbmissions/?hl=en

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Mission Board