Foundation of Yakima Valley College

What it reported doing in 2024

Awarding scholarships to students is our main focus and our largest expenditure. We have awarded over $10 million in scholarships to approximately 9000 students in the 48 years we have been in existence. The Foundation also raised matching funds for the SBCTC Exceptional Faculty Program in 1998. $350,000 was matched by the State of WA to make awards available yearly to faculty working at Yakima Valley College (YVC). 98% of the total expenses were spent on scholarships and awards. The revenue we generate yearly comes from donors who want to establish scholarships with us and the investment income generated by those donations. We require a $25,000 donation to set up a perpetual scholarship whereby we only award the income from the prior year and keep initial donation intact. We charge a 0.5%-1.5% administrative fee yearly to pay for administrative costs in our office. The fees charged are based on prior year's performance and income generated. We also accept donations where the donor wants the whole donation to be awarded and is charged a 3% one-time fee on the initial donation with no investment income generated. The Foundation teamed up with the college and created an emergency fund for studentsThe Student Success Fund. The funds cover unexpected costs that come up that would prevent a student from attending their classes such as rent, utilities, car repairs, groceries, etc. Our Foundation has been given millions of dollars by incredible people who want to further the educations of students who wouldn't be able to attend college if not for the scholarship. A list of our scholarships with their criteria is available at yvcc.edu/scholarships.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 54.1%; rating input score 54
• Program expense ratio: 96.6%; rating input score 97
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd 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: 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: 56.1%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 19.82; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings