Kennesaw State University Foundation
Legal name: Kennesaw State University Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237034345
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Kennesaw, GA, USA
- Phone
- 470-578-4636
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Single Organization Support
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $90,573,212
- Expenses
- $55,836,512
- Assets
- $697,628,763
- Liabilities
- $462,712,507
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
67 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DR KATHY SCHWAIG (TRUSTEE/PRESIDENT)
- MR LANCE E BURCHETT (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DR KATHY SCHWAIG (TRUSTEE/PRESIDENT): $580,542 total reported compensation
- DR IVAN PULINKALA (TRUSTEE/KSU PROVOST): $440,249 total reported compensation
- MR LANCE E BURCHETT (CEO): $335,692 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Kennesaw State University Foundation believes in the transformative power of education and the profound impact it has on our community and beyond. Our unwavering commitment to promoting academic excellence and fostering a culture of philanthropy drives everything we do. Our role is clear—to ensure that private philanthropy transforms the lives of students, faculty, and the broader community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Leasing operations - provide student housing, parking, office, dining and sports and recreation facilities to the university.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 72% for direct work, and 28% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 60
- Accountability: 89
- Sustainability: 84
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.2%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
- Fundraising efficiency: $121.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
- 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: 96.8%; rating input score 97; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 38.4%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.49; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.66; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.5%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 64.2% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 60 of 62 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $54.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $581K · 67 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.4M reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 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: 7 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.