Umhef
Overview
Mission
Since 1965, the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation has been committed to making it financially possible for Methodist students to be educated at a United Methodist-related institution of higher education. We award $2+ million in scholarships annually. The United Methodist Higher Education Foundation (UMHEF) aims to make higher education financially possible for the leaders of tomorrow. Since 1965, UMHEF has been a leader in church-related foundations and agencies in providing scholarship support to qualifying students attending the 100+ United Methodist-related higher education institutions. Last year, over $1.9 million in scholarship aid was awarded to nearly 800 students. We aim to inspire generous donors to partner with us to achieve our mission of ensuring the continuing presence and influence of The United Methodist Church* in providing higher education in a Christian...
What it reported doing in 2024
United methodist dollars for scholars provides matching scholarships for students attending united methodist-related institutions. Local united methodist churches provide 1,000 to a member student (totaling 419,000 in 2024), the united methodist higher education foundation matches each student's 1,000, and in most instances the united methodist-related educational institution matches 1,000, bringing the total award to 3,000 per student. Further, with a select number of united methodist conference foundations, the award is matched with an additional 1,000 (totaling 276,328 in 2024), bringing the total award to 4,000 per student. Total scholarships awarded by united methodist higher education foundation through this program in 2024 were 1,114,328.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Investment-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 60% of its reported program spending out as grants.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237077869
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Website reviewed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Headquarters
- Nashville, TN, United States
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education
- Affiliation
- Christianity
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
- Fundraising efficiency: $1.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
- Public monitoring controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public policy transparency: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- Public financial transparency: 1 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 20
- Impact reporting controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Public relationship transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Public governance controls: 2 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 23.6%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 22.4; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.4%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -4.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $178K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2011 to 2024
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records