Catawba College
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 560530251
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Salisbury, NC, US
- Phone
- 704.637.4394
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $310,506,126
- Expenses
- $95,170,917
- Assets
- $833,178,617
- Liabilities
- $14,697,620
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
37 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID P NELSON (PRESIDENT)
- JOHN E MORRISON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CLEAN)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID P NELSON (PRESIDENT): $361,852 total reported compensation
- MONICA COWART (EVP & PROVOST): $264,911 total reported compensation
- IMRAN G CHOWDHURY (DEAN OF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS): $238,166 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Catawba College's mission is to provide a world-class education.
What it reported doing in 2024
Catawba college is a private, coeducational, and residential institution offering career preparation grounded in the liberal arts tradition. We offer over 70 academic fields of study including strong science and pre-professional programs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 46
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 89
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 23.1%; rating input score 23
- Program expense ratio: 70.3%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $156.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th 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: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 69.3%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.75; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 23.1% of revenue deployed · 70.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $66.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $362K · 37 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $14.4M reported
- Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 23/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.