National Association of College and University Business Officers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530259954
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028612500
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,033,806
Expenses
$17,862,592
Assets
$37,464,023
Liabilities
$15,685,483

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

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KARA FREEMAN (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KARA FREEMAN (PRESIDENT & CEO): $637,963 total reported compensation
  • TIMOTHY J MCDONOUGH (SENIOR VP FOR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP): $383,538 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH CLARK (VP, POLICY & RESEARCH): $276,246 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 usual public activitites of the national association of college and univsersity business officers (nacubo) are to develop, promote, and improve business and financial principles and practices in the administration of institutions of higher education and to foster among member institutions professional ideals and standards in business and financial administration.nacubo's core mission is to improve financial and administrative management at institutions of higher education. To this end, nacubo marshals expertise, shares knowledge, provides technical assistance, and encourages innovation in business practices. Areas of focus include accounting and financial management including endowments and debt, taxation, student financial services, and business operations including information technology and facilities management.

What it reported doing in 2024

Member services: universities - the association keeps members informed of federal actions, solicits member opinions and concerns, and advocates for the best interests of colleges and universities with congress and federal agencies. The associations representing various higher education constituencies. In addition, nacubo is the voice for higher education with the various bodies that set standards for accounting practices, such as the financial accounting standards board, the association of certified public accountants, and the u.s. General accounting office. Research - nacubo undertakes both on-going longitudinal studies important to the higher education industry such as the association's annual study of college and university endowments and short surveys or research on specific issues of concern.grants - nacubo received funding for a grant to serve its members and develop strategic finance models that prioritize and sustain student equity, success, and completion initiatives. During the three-year grant, nacubo will facilitate the creation of frameworks, tools, and models that can move institutions towards sustainable, institution-wide financial and operational activities that increase equitable outcomes and completion for students. The work will particularly focus on ways to increase guided pathways and improve transfer outcomes.regional associations and partnerships - nacubo manages an association management system that serves the joint membership of the national association and its four regional affiliated associations (cacubo, eacubo, sacubo and wacubo). The system captures a variety of data points that enable improved tracking of individual member activity and dues billing and collection processes. This database is linked to both a content management system and the association website improving member service.awards program - nacubo recognizes institutional and individual excellence through its awards program. These awards were presented to individuals who showed outstanding achievement and exemplary performance in the areas of financial management, endowment management, professional development and more. Institutions were recognized that demonstrated innovation in the areas of process improvement and resource enhancement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 38.3%; rating input score 38; 10th 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: 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: 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: 10.8%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.1; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 79.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $14.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $638K · 38 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $862K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.