Williams College

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2024

Williams is an independent liberal arts college for approximately 2,100 full-time undergraduate and 50 graduate students who come from all of the 50 states and countries from around the world. The williams curriculum offers study in the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences and combines a broad education with knowledge of one field in depth. The college offers the bachelor of arts degree at the undergraduate level. In addition, the college offers master of arts programs in policy economics and history of art.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 64% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042104847
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Headquarters
Williamstown, MA, USA
Phone
4135974412
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Pass
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96%; rating input score 96; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.97; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $352.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.6M · 45 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $22.1M reported
  • Consistency: 51 of 51 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 43 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 23 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Leadership & pay

45 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • COLLETTE CHILTON (FORMER CHIEF INVESTMENT Officer (Through June 30, 2023)): $1,646,388 total reported compensation
  • MAUD MANDEL (PRESIDENT): $992,690 total reported compensation
  • PAUL MACE (MANAGING DIRECTOR/INVESTMENT OFFICE): $791,646 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.