Founded by Chuck Colson, a Catholic, (turned himself in due to the Watergate incident, after his conversion after reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity), the Prison Fellowship ministry is said to be the world largest prison ministry. The U.S. hosts 25% of world prisoners.
When Archie mocked Colson's promise to help the prisoners, it stuck in his mind ever since his release and thus, the prison ministry was founded.
Based on the testimonies I've read in a booklet mailed to me, it would seem that the ministry indeed makes huge impact on prisoners' lives. Angel Tree is a program in the ministry that helps children of the incarcerated, gifting them Christmas presents on behalf of their imprisoned parents who are in the prison ministry program (mostly it has to do with the reentry program).
When the power of God is at work, a fragile church becomes astonishing while displaying all signs of vulnerability and meekness.
I checked back on this ministry again and wasn't impressed by it anymore. It's not that they are not doing any good, but the reports generated by Charity Navigator is discouraging:
Although the transparency is 100%, the financial management is not what I had hoped. Most managers' salaries are 100k to 160k, with the head James Ackerman (President and CEO) collecting the 2019 compensation of $392,700, despite that being a mere 0.92% of the expenses. Navigator gave a rating of 74.10/100 for its Financial score.
Now I can still take their word for it and not question whether or not that those kids are being supported, and they can argue that only 10% of my giving would go to salaries, but 0.92% of $40 millions is still a lot, and I can't help but seeing that my entire gift would be a tiny portion of one person's salary rather than the other way around.
To get $400k compensation for working at a charity organization, I say it is ridiculous. I can't say that I have respect for them. The volunteers yes, which is a standard definition of a charity work, but not them. I won't be looking back at this anymore. It is a money scheme. The charity, the transparency are just ways to do it.