MSU Research Foundation

Legal name: Michigan State University Research Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237326030
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
East Lansing, MI, US
Phone
(517) 353-9268
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$44,725,234
Expenses
$24,891,311
Assets
$656,424,728
Liabilities
$53,839,523

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID WASHBURN (CEO)
  • PHIL ZECHER (PRESIDENT)
  • JEFFREY WESLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VENTURES)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID WASHBURN (CEO): $530,933 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY WESLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VENTURES): $409,061 total reported compensation
  • REBEKAH SKRZYNIARZ (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $237,666 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 provide support for the board of trustees of Michigan state university and to promote, sponsor, assist, and carry out educational, scientific, charitable and related activities and objectives of Michigan state university.

What it reported doing in 2024

Granting funds to advance research and the university's scholarly infrastructure of teaching and dissemination of new knowledge, underwriting msu's work in technology commercialization, developing, scaling and de-risking technologies fostering the creation of startup enterprises originating from msu through the foundation's spartan innovations and investment holdings subsidiaries, and providing facilities and building sites at the university corporate research park and foundation park i for technology enterprises, university technology-development initiatives, and university/industry collaborations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 63% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 81.8%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 29th 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: 44.3%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 26.37; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.4%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $20.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $531K · 34 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $920K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 31 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 27 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.