Marion & Jasper Whiting Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
046147345
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6172271782
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Higher Education Institutions

Reported finances

Revenue
$443,578
Expenses
$294,340
Assets
$4,564,204
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT G BANNISH SEE NOTE (PART-TIME TRUSTEE): $9,201 total reported compensation
  • BONNY S KELLERMAN (PART-TIME TRUSTEE): $2,301 total reported compensation
  • DEBORAH KAUFMAN (PART-TIME TRUSTEE): $2,300 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 foundation's purpose is to award fellowships primarily to college level educators, to enable them to study abroad in unfamiliar environments, in order to stimulate and broaden the minds of teachers so as to enhance the quality of their instruction.

What it reported doing in 2024

The foundation is a permanent charitable trust fund established under the will of jasper whiting. The foundation began awarding annual fellowships after the death of mr. Whiting's wife, marion, in 1965. For the foundation's f/y/e 10/31/2025, the trustees received 136 applications and made 43 awards totaling $260,622. According to the will, the benefits under the foundation are to be conferred at the sole discretion of the trustees but shall not at any time be denied for reasons of race, color, nationality, religion, or gender. All applicants must submit their proposal for their project of study to the trustees within certain time deadlines each year. In an agreement with the IRS, the trustees have agreed to make the awards directly to the college or university with which the applicant is affiliated.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 86.3%; rating input score 86; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 33.6%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.51; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $261K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $9K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 41 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 55 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.