Hillel at ASU

Legal name: Hillel the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
866053859
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tempe, AZ, United States
Phone
(480) 967-7563
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,024,980
Expenses
$1,189,587
Assets
$2,320,167
Liabilities
$319,171

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ED OBER (President)
  • SHELLEY COHN (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBORAH YUNKER KAIL (Executive Dir.): $158,761 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people, Israel and the world. And, in those early years of my time here, I received some feedback that was hard to hear, but was critical to listen to, and took some real inner strength and outside support to address. Unsurprisingly, I was holding a lot of stress, but unfortunately, it was becoming too evident to others. I was told that my team was being too impacted by my mood, and they wondered which Debbie they were going to get that day. I immediately asked myself – how could I lead and train others when I was struggling with consistency in how I showed up? How could people take me seriously when we were having hard conversations about complex issues from leadership to Israel, if they were worried about which Debbie.

What it reported doing in 2024

Miscellaneous Programming: Hillel staff is on hand to create a comfortable and nurturing 'home away from home' for students. Staff provides social, educational, and counseling support for the student body. Staff ensures a Jewish presence is represented in campus activities and that student rights are respected. Other minor programming include; Israeli programming & advocacy, Judaic library, mitzvah projects, minor holiday celebration, and specialty programming.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 58
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 63.5%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.95; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 74.8% of revenue deployed · 63.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $755K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $159K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 33 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.