Kalamazoo College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
381358014
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Kalamazoo, MI, USA
Phone
269.337.7000
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$122,047,535
Expenses
$130,889,692
Assets
$509,516,481
Liabilities
$101,578,253

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

Leadership & pay

43 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JORGE G GONZALEZ (PRESIDENT)
  • Andy Miller (Associate Vice President for Development)
  • Susan Lindemann (Associate Vice President for Facilities Management)
  • Todd Watson (Associate Vice President & Chief Info. Officer)

Highest reported compensation

  • JORGE G GONZALEZ (PRESIDENT): $539,744 total reported compensation
  • KAREN ISBLE (VP COLLEGE ADVANCEMENT): $297,588 total reported compensation
  • LISA VANDEWEERT (VP FOR BUSINESS AND FINANCE, ASSISTANT TREASURER): $274,494 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 prepare our graduates to better understand, live successfully within, and provide enlightened and compassionate leadership to a richly diverse and increasingly complex world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Higher education: the mission of kalamazoo college is to prepare its graduates to better understand, live successfully within, and provide enlightened leadership to a richly diverse and increasingly complex world. As a highly selective, nationally renowned and internationally oriented four-year college of arts and sciences, kalamazoo college has developed a tradition of excellence in the fulfillment of this mission. College enrollment for the fall quarter of 2024 was 1,320 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 82% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 45% for direct work, and 55% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 77
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.5%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 81.8%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 94.3%; rating input score 94; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.9%; rating input score 97; 52nd 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: -7.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.89; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.5% of revenue deployed · 81.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 31 of 32 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $107.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $540K · 43 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $795K reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 46 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
  • 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 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.