Osher Lifelong Learning Inst - U of Az

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
331096431
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone
5206269039
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$620,452
Expenses
$472,334
Assets
$1,363,241
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NONA CUSICK (President)
  • MALLORY RIEGGER (Vice President)
  • LEE COMPTON (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • NONA CUSICK (President)
  • SUSAN WILLIAMS (Treasurer)
  • DAVID KIKEL (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The lives of our members, who are 50 years of age or older, have been enhanced by their participation in olli-ua's activities that further its mission to provide opportunities for learning, teaching, research, service, and social interaction.

What it reported doing in 2024

Almost entirely volunteer run, osher lifelong learning institute - university of Arizona (olli-ua) provides lifelong learning for adults 50+, keeping aging adults engaged socially and active mentally through a community learning environment. For the year ended june 30, 2025 we had over 1,170 members. We anticipate the enrollment to continue to increase as we increase offerings and provide additional hybrid attendance opportunities. Olli-ua serves its members through a broad range of quality education courses offered both online and in-person in the greater tucson area with over 530 offerings, equaling over 3,500 hours of programing led by over 230 volunteer instructors. We continue to have substantial growth in the number of participants since the programs founding in 1989. We continue to increase social activities and our curriculum as we encourage more members to socialize. The olli-ua board believes that social activities not only enhance the olli-ua experience for its members but also serves to increase the olli-ua membership.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.9%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.89; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $472K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.