Bennington College Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030179414
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Bennington, VT, USA
Phone
8024404328
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$90,820,710
Expenses
$95,024,716
Assets
$147,791,217
Liabilities
$58,257,234

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA WALKER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURA WALKER (PRESIDENT): $615,436 total reported compensation
  • LORRAINE ATWOOD (TREASURER/SVP OF FINANCE): $314,823 total reported compensation
  • MAURICE HALL (PROVOST): $297,320 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The men and women who brought bennington college into being sought to create a college that would emphasize "the individual student and her developing interests," learning "by activity and living", a community life designed to "break down artificial barriers between teacher and student and between curriculum and extra curriculum, and "a conscious elasticity in educational plans."the principle of learning by practice and the emphasis on the individual underlie every major feature of a bennington education: the close working relationship between student and teacher, the insistence on self-determination, the commitment to learning across the disciplines, and the field work term, which gives students work experience and connects them to the greater community. The plan process, through which students design their academic experiences and navigate their bennington education, embodies the college's mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Undergraduate program: bennington college holds a distinguished place among american colleges and universities. It was the first to include the visual and performing arts in a liberal arts education, and it is the only college to require that its students spend seven weeks - every year - at work in the world (field work term).bennington's center for the advancement of public action is an expression of the college's commitment to engaging the world; by embedding in the curriculum an ongoing dynamic between public responsibilities and private ambitions, bennington aims to ensure that its graduates are committed to, and capable of, effective action in the world. (continued on schedule o)bennington students draw in the full breadth of the college's curriculum which offers classes in the humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, social science, and visual and performing arts - to design individual courses of study that are unified and fueled by their intellect and imagination, guided by their faculty, and shaped by their experience working in the world each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 74% 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 53% for direct work, and 47% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 87.3%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • 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

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96%; rating input score 96; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.56; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.3% of revenue deployed · 87.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $82.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $615K · 32 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.4M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.