FILO

What FILO does

FILO (First In, Last Out) is a US-registered 501c3 nonprofit corporation (EIN #88-4371631, legal name FILO Community NFP) founded by Todd Elliott in 2014 and headquartered in Algonquin, Illinois. The organization serves church technical artists — the audio engineers, video operators, lighting technicians, livestream producers, and stage production staff and volunteers who run services at local churches — by addressing their professional isolation, burnout, and lack of role-specific training. Its mission combines technical skill development with spiritual encouragement, explicitly positioning itself as a community built by church technical artists for church technical artists.

FILO's product surface is built around an annual conference (with confirmed editions through FILO 2026 and FILO 2027, offered both in-person and via live stream), a podcast with 111+ episodes, cohort-based small-group coaching (groups of up to 10 meeting 6–8 weeks under a coach), one-on-one leadership coaching, a blog, a digital resources storefront (breakouts, main sessions, intensives, and lunch & learns organized by year and topic), Advent devotional content (also distributed via YouVersion), and a branded merchandise store. The technology stack is essentially a WordPress/Elementor content site with an integrated e-commerce storefront; there is no proprietary platform, mobile app, or API surface.

The business model is a hybrid of nonprofit donations, ticket sales, low-AOV digital content purchases ($9.99–$24.99 individual items, $44.99–$79.99 bundles), recurring coaching revenue, merchandise, and vendor sponsorships from pro-AV companies (ACT Entertainment, Multitracks, Clark, Resi Media, Sweetwater, Clear-Com, ChurchGear). Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, with the annual conference functioning as the flagship demand-generation moment and the podcast, blog, and social channels providing year-round top-of-funnel engagement. Customer segments are primarily individual church technical artists, with secondary reach into church production leaders/directors and worship leaders; a formal Church Partnerships program suggests nascent institutional sales.

Name

FILO

Legal name

FILO Community NFP

Website

https://filo.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FILO is a US 501c3 nonprofit community serving church technical artists worldwide through an annual conference, a 111+ episode podcast, cohort-based and one-on-one coaching, and a digital resources storefront covering audio, video, lighting, and production ministry.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious/Ministry Community Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Phonograph Records & Prerecorded Audio Tapes & Disks (3652)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDANADAH

Project-Based Learning & Presentation Coaching

Education/Tutoring & Test Preparation/Homework Help & Study Skills Coaching

Keywords

• Church production training
• Technical arts ministry
• Faith-based community
• Leadership coaching programs
• Conference event services

Headquarters

HQ city

Algonquin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Digital Resources and Conference Recordings: Sale of recorded conference sessions, breakouts, main sessions, and intensives as digital downloads. Individual items priced at $9.99-$24.99, with bundle options available.
2. Conference Tickets: In-person and live stream tickets for annual FILO conferences (FILO 2026, FILO 2027).
3. Merchandise: Sale of FILO-branded merchandise through the online merch store.
4. Coaching Services: One-on-one leadership coaching and cohort-based coaching programs for church technical artists.
5. Donations: As a US-registered 501c3 nonprofit organization (EIN #88-4371631), FILO accepts tax-deductible donations from supporters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

FILO provides community, coaching, and educational resources to church technical artists (audio, video, lighting, livestream, and production staff and volunteers in local churches). Its core offerings center on the annual FILO Conference (in-person and live stream), the FILO Podcast (111+ episodes), cohort-based small-group coaching (groups of up to 10 meeting 6-8 weeks), and one-on-one leadership coaching, all designed to equip technical artists with both professional skills and spiritual encouragement specific to church ministry contexts.

Product overview

FILO (First In, Last Out) is a nonprofit organization (EIN #88-4371631, 501c3) serving church technical artists through a community-focused model. The core offerings center on the annual FILO Conference (with in-person and live stream options), the FILO Podcast (111+ episodes), cohort-based group coaching (small groups of 10 meeting 6-8 weeks), and one-on-one leadership coaching. These are supported by the FILO Blog, FILO Digital Resources (purchasable breakouts, intensives, main sessions, and lunch & learns organized by topic year), FILO Advent devotional content, and the FILO Merch Store. The product portfolio functions as an integrated ecosystem where the community and coaching programs feed into conference attendance and content purchases, while the podcast and blog provide ongoing engagement throughout the year.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FILO Conference Annual multi-day conference for church technical artists featuring main sessions, breakout workshops, intensive training sessions, and lunch & learns covering audio, video, lighting, leadership, and church production topics. Available as in-person and live stream ticketed events.
• FILO Podcast
• FILO Podcast
• FILO Cohorts Small group coaching program (cohorts of no more than 10 people meeting for 6-8 weeks under a FILO Cohort Leader) designed for church technical artists to grow together in skills and leadership.
• One-on-One Leadership Coaching Individual leadership coaching services for church technical artists to develop personally and professionally.
• FILO Digital Resources Digital educational content including individual breakout session recordings ($9.99), main session recordings ($19.99), intensive recordings ($24.99), lunch & learn recordings, and bundle options (intensives bundle $79.99, main sessions bundle $44.99), organized by topic and conference year.
• FILO Advent Devotionals Seasonal devotional content designed for church technical artists to help them pause and refocus during the busy Christmas season, delivered via email and also available as a YouVersion plan with daily reminders.
• FILO Merch Store Online storefront selling FILO-branded merchandise to support the community.
• FILO Blog Blog publishing articles on production, leadership, team building, and spiritual encouragement for church technical artists.

Quantifiable outcome

• Churches investing in FILO report improved staff longevity and volunteer culture

Named customers4 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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ChurchGearminorOthersChurchGear (led by Toby Walters) has contributed content to FILO through podcast episodes, specifically Episode 126 discussing excellence and authenticity in church production.
• Clear-ComminorOthersClear-Com, a professional intercom and communications company, contributed to FILO through Episode 130 featuring Brian Grahn discussing facilitating creativity in church production environments.
• ACT EntertainmentcoreTechnology or IntegrationACT Entertainment is a presenting sponsor for FILO Intensives, specifically the Position Tracking: Using zactrack in Worship Production intensive, providing hands-on experience with Zactrack tracking technology.
• MultitrackscoreTechnology or IntegrationMultitracks presented an intensive on Tracks, Charts, and Licensing connecting the MultiTracks.com ecosystem for worship production, covering song arrangement and licensing tools.
• ClarkcoreTechnology or IntegrationClark presented a Network Mastery intensive on building and troubleshooting IP networks for video, audio, and lighting in church production environments.
• SweetwaterminorOthersSweetwater, an instrument and equipment retailer, presented a Lunch & Learn session titled 'Waves, Frequencies, and Why Small Things Matter' at FILO 2024, encouraging church tech ministers on the value of their work.
• HouseRightcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDennis Choy, General Manager of Design and Project Management at HouseRight (a church AVL firm), is a regular content contributor and coach. HouseRight sponsored the 2025 Lunch & Learn on working with different personalities. Dennis has 30+ years of ministry experience and provides leadership content for FILO.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Subsplash: Subsplash is a church engagement platform offering mobile apps, media, and giving tools. It serves churches broadly with digital infrastructure comparable to FILO's community and content offerings but operates at venture-scale with a much broader product portfolio and enterprise sales motion.
• RightNow Media: RightNow Media is a video streaming library for churches offering thousands of Bible study and ministry videos via subscription. While broader in scope (not specific to production), it serves the same church audience with subscription-based video content and is a much larger scale incumbent in church content distribution.
• WFX (Worship Facilities Conference & Expo): WFX is a major annual conference and expo for worship facility technology and production teams. It is a broader industry event comparable to FILO Conference but covers the full worship facilities ecosystem — including architecture, AVL vendors, and church operations — making it a broader incumbent in the same event-driven space.
• Multitracks: Multitracks provides worship production tools including tracks, charts, and licensing for church worship teams. It is both a FILO partner and a broader incumbent in church worship production software, with a much larger product portfolio and SaaS revenue base.

Direct peers

• Worship House Media: Worship House Media offers worship-focused videos, countdowns, and media resources for church services. It serves church production teams with educational and creative content directly comparable to FILO's digital resources and conference recordings.
• Worship Tutorials: Worship Tutorials offers training content focused on worship band and production skills for churches. Its educational offering and church-production target market closely mirror FILO's content and coaching mission for technical and worship artists.
• Church Motion Graphics: Church Motion Graphics provides motion graphics, video content, and media resources specifically designed for church services. It serves the same church production audience as FILO with complementary and partially competing media resources.
• Churchfront: Churchfront produces worship and production tutorials, training videos, and resources for church technical teams. It directly competes with FILO in delivering educational content to church audio, video, and lighting volunteers and staff, and overlaps in target audience and content format (online video courses, training content).
• ChurchPixel: ChurchPixel creates motion graphics, social media content, and video resources for churches. It competes with FILO in the church media resources category and overlaps in serving volunteer technical artists with subscription and à-la-carte content.

Others

• Church Production Magazine: Church Production Magazine is a trade publication covering church production technology, teams, and trends. It is an adjacent media/ecosystem participant serving the same church technical audience with editorial content rather than training, making it a thematic peer rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/FILOCommunity
• Facebookfacebook.com/FILOcommunity
• Instagraminstagram.com/filocommunity
• Xx.com/FILOconference
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/filo-community-nfp

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 FILO