Culver Academies

Legal name: Culver Educational Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
350868071
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Culver, IN, USA
Phone
5748428292
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$140,103,439
Expenses
$115,107,735
Assets
$1,096,152,759
Liabilities
$36,573,784

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

Leadership & pay

48 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Craig J Duchossois (Vice President)
  • David M Culver (Vice President)
  • Harry L Crisp II (Vice President)
  • James A Henderson (Chairman Emeritus/Vice President)
  • John D Zeglis (Vice President)
  • John J Bollman (Secretary/Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Douglas O Bird (Head of Schools): $648,444 total reported compensation
  • Caren M Standfast (Dean of Culver Girls Academy): $405,282 total reported compensation
  • Andrew Seddelmeyer (Deputy Head of Schools): $345,037 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Culver educates its students for leadership and responsible citizenship in society by developing and nurturing the whole individual – mind, spirit, and body – through integrated programs that emphasize the cultivation of character.

What it reported doing in 2024

Culver promises top academics, competitive athletics and education you need to be a leader and a responsible global citizen in high school, in college and beyond. Culver encourages you to develop your individual interests and talents, all while helping you move beyond self-imposed limitations. Our mission to develop and nurture the whole person - mind, spirit and body - with our unique focus on leadership training means you receive the total educational experience that has set Culver above other schools for more than a century. Instruction is for grades 9-12, ranging from the arts and music to science, math and humanities as well as unique programs in leadership, wellness and a servant leadership project requirement for graduation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 62% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 80% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.5%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 17.8%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.52; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 87.5% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 39 of 39 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $95.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $648K · 48 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $27.8M reported
  • Consistency: 50 of 50 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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 scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.