Friends of Freiburg University Ltd
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 813641880
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2016–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2127585731
- Rating
- 90
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Student Services, Organizations of Students
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $35,029
- Expenses
- $59,249
- Assets
- $87,275
- Liabilities
- $3,000
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JEFFREY HIMMEL (President)
People named in this filing
- JEFFREY HIMMEL (President)
- SUSANNE WILKE (Director-12/25)
- MARTIN BRECKHEIMER (Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Friends of freiburg university, ltd. ("friends") is formed for the educational purpose of facilitating student and cultural exchanges and promoting joint educational and research programs between the university of freiburg (germany) and american universities. Friends will identify opportunities for us students to live in germany and study at freiburg university on a temporary basis, and will identify and recruit us colleges and universities to participate in these programs and host german students to live and study in the us under their auspices. The primary purpose of this activity is to allow students to develop and improve their capabilities by being exposed to cultural and educational opportunities and experiences through participation in the everyday activities of families in a foreign country and study at recognized educational institutions outside the us. Friends' role will be to coordinate and facilitate these exchanges, working closely with us and german educators. Friends wil
What it reported doing in 2025
Friends of Freiburg University, Ltd. Accomplishments 2025 Commitment to MissionFriends of Freiburg University, Ltd. (Friends) is committed to its mission of developing a strong and vibrant community on both sides of the Atlantic that includes the building of a robust network and the strengthening of the ties between the North American community, the university, the city of Freiburg and beyond. In pursuit of these goals, Friends held its flagship event, the Annual Dinner & Conference in March of 2025 with its themes of innovation in art and in the wider economic sphere. With the goal to strengthen connections within the alumni community, Friends re-launched a monthly newsletter in 2025 to keep alumni informed and engaged and hosted various events (both virtual and in-person) throughout the year. Alumni Engagement ActivitiesIn 2025, Friends organized a series of events to promote cultural and intellectual exchange. These included four in-person cultural events, such as its Artist Studio Tour/ Visit with the Artist series and a special Film Screening. Additionally, Friends held five virtual discussions, featuring topics like opera introductions and book discussions. The organization also facilitated one in-person roundtable discussion on economic developments, conducted in collaboration with a transatlantic partner. To encourage networking, Friends hosted three Stammtisch gatherings and other networking events. Its flagship event was the Annual Conference held on March 28 at the Penn Club of New York, which featured a roundtable discussion centered on Fostering Innovation. GivingThe Annual Dinner & Conference held on March 27th at the Penn Club of New York brought together 100 guests from the German American transatlantic community, including alumni based in the New York City metro area, partner organizations, and delegates from the University of Freiburg. This event as well as the Friends' annual donation appeal in December - Giving Tuesday - gave impetus to members of the community to give. These initiatives were central to advancing the organizations mission and enabling Friends of Freiburg to support the University of Freiburg in several ways including the giving of money - earmarked for the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies and the University College Freiburg - as well as the overarching goal of raising the profile of the University in the US.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 74% for direct work, and 26% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 65.5%; rating input score 66
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -69.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 33.1% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 65.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $39K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.