Hildreth Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824154262
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6177523701
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$700,365
Expenses
$401,246
Assets
$529,336
Liabilities
$156,370

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT J HILDRETH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BAHAR AKMAN IMBODEN (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $156,667 total reported compensation
  • HIBA AGHA (OFFICER): $65,962 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Dedicated to strengthening public higher education as an engine of upward mobility the organization takes a student-centered approach: access and affordability, student success and completion, degree value, and transparency and accountability.

What it reported doing in 2025

Through research, policy analysis, and collaboration, the organization serves as a capacity builder, equipping partners and stakeholders with the evidence, tools, and support needed to develop actionable solutions that advance a more inclusive, affordable, transparent, and high-quality public higher education system.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.1%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 42.7%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 55.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 38.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.1% of revenue deployed · 82.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $330K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $157K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.