Merrimack College

Overview

Mission

Merrimack college is a comprehensive, catholic augustinian institution that provides rigorous undergraduate, professional and graduate programs for students.

What it reported doing in 2024

Auxiliary services: a primarily residental college, merrimack houses students in a variety of living arrangements, from residence halls for first-year students to apartments for seniors. Residential life provides a living/learning environment, promoting personal growth and encouraging students to develop their whole selves. Merrimack dining service seeks to provide the finest quality meals and services to the entire merrimack community: students, faculty, staff and guests. The college also has athletic facilities, including softball, football, basketball, ice rinks, boat house, and track and field facilities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 56% for direct work, and 44% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042103731
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Headquarters
North Andover, MA, USA
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Universities
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

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The verdict

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: Limited
  • Public policy transparency: Limited
  • Public financial transparency: Limited
  • Impact reporting controls: Limited
  • Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.7%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 1.4; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.9% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 26 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $279.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 36 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 44 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.