Gordon College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042104258
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wenham, MA, USA
Phone
9788674883
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$82,553,050
Expenses
$82,956,587
Assets
$194,941,393
Liabilities
$31,441,970

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL D HAMMOND (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL D HAMMOND (PRESIDENT): $674,138 total reported compensation
  • SANDRA DONESKI (EVP FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $214,262 total reported compensation
  • BRITT CARLSON EATON (VP FOR ADVANCEMENT): $182,959 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

Higher education: our largest program service is providing education and instruction to individuals giving them an opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree, graduate degree, or graduate certificate. The college welcomes dual-enrollment students and learners pursuing professional development after college. Gordon college is the only nondenominational christian liberal arts college in new england. It offers 35 majors and confers 3 distinct undergraduate degrees: bachelor of arts, bachelor of science and bachelor of music. Undergraduate enrollment of 1,501 students (degree seeking and non-degree seeking) is drawn from 43 states and 38 countries. Graduate enrollment in 2024-25 was 544 students. (continued in schedule o). (continuation) in 2024-2025, gordon college issued 317 undergraduate degrees (with a six-year graduation rate of 71%). Gordon had a faculty to student ratio of 11 to 1 with 63% of the students from outside Massachusetts. Of the 91 full-time faculty, 76% have earned a doctorate or other terminal degree. Gordon college students can take advantage of a wide variety of off-campus programs, both domestic and abroad. During 2024-25, 100 students participated in off-campus programs and short-term international seminars.form 990, part v, line 2a: employee breakout: staff - 758 student - 787 total - 1545

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 80% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 74% for direct work, and 26% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 72
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.4%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.5%; rating input score 90; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.5%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.35; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.4% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $70.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $674K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $8.9M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 12 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: 9 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.
  • 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.