Lipscomb University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 620485733
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Nashville, TN, USA
- Phone
- 6159661000
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $272,059,219
- Expenses
- $254,889,018
- Assets
- $474,908,065
- Liabilities
- $239,182,826
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
33 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CANDICE MCQUEEN (PRESIDENT)
- KEITH HINKLE (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CANDICE MCQUEEN (PRESIDENT): $722,140 total reported compensation
- CHARLES ACUFF (COACH): $402,935 total reported compensation
- BRAD SCHULTZ (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $354,782 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We are a christ-centered community preparing learners for purposeful lives through rigorous academics and transformative experiences.
What it reported doing in 2024
Academic support: includes academic counseling & testing services, academic program development, university deans, instructional technology, library services, and other areas designed to enhance a student's learning experience and the overall quality of a student's education.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 82% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 69% for direct work, and 31% 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: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 93
- Sustainability: 59
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.8%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 88%; rating input score 88; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.3%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.86; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 78.8% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 22 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $213.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $722K · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $16.9M reported
- Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
- Schedules: 14 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: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.