Eastern Mennonite University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
540575812
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Harrisonburg, VA, United States
Phone
540-432-4000
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$59,328,189
Expenses
$59,014,313
Assets
$104,226,547
Liabilities
$20,041,791

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Susan Huxman (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Susan Huxman (President): $278,859 total reported compensation
  • Tynisha Willingham (Provost): $200,272 total reported compensation
  • Shawn Ramer (Chief Operating Officer): $170,221 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

_EMU prepares students to serve and lead in a global context._ Our community of learning integrates Christian faith, academic rigor, artistic creation and reflective practice informed by the liberal arts, interdisciplinary engagement, and intercultural encounter. EMU’s mission, vision and values are the foundation of EMU’s strategic plan. _Eastern Mennonite University, founded in 1917, is an educational institution of Mennonite Church USA, serving students of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. EMU confers undergraduate, graduate, and seminary degrees in the liberal arts, applied sciences, and professions._ Apply Now;) Visit Campus;).

What it reported doing in 2024

Higher Education: Establish maintain and conduct non-profit undergraduate and graduate educational programs for the Mennonite church and the general public. Over 1,000 students enrolled and additional persons were served through non-credit seminars conferences and events.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 74% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 63% for direct work, and 37% 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: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 92%; rating input score 92; 24th 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: 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: 0.5%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.77; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 87% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $50.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $279K · 30 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.3M reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 45 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: 10 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.