Chaminade University of Honolulu

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
990272261
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Phone
(808) 735-4711
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$89,549,283
Expenses
$85,547,268
Assets
$152,382,946
Liabilities
$32,161,125

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

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • L BABINGTON (PRESIDENT/EX OFFICIO)
  • C WRIGHT (FORMER PRESIDENT OF FACULT)

Highest reported compensation

  • L BABINGTON (PRESIDENT/EX OFFICIO): $559,254 total reported compensation
  • D FRYXELL (DEAN): $392,305 total reported compensation
  • L ASKILDSON (PROVOST & SENIOR VP FOR AC): $317,010 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Chaminade University of Honolulu is a Catholic university in the Marianist tradition that educates students for life, service, and successful careers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Chaminade offers an education in a collaborative learning environment that prepares students for life, service and successful careers. Guided by its catholic, marianist and liberal arts educational traditions and accredited by the wasc senior college and university commission, chaminade provides 2500 students with 26 undergraduate degree programs, 12 certificate programs, 10 graduate programs, five doctoral programs and 15 degree opportunities for working adults.

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 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.

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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.5%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 72.7%; rating input score 73; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: 4.5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.78; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 84.5% of revenue deployed · 87.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $74.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $559K · 39 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.6M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • 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: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.