Otterbein University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
314379532
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Westerville, OH, USA
Phone
614-823-3100
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$107,492,633
Expenses
$114,518,494
Assets
$251,857,324
Liabilities
$44,907,117

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Comerford John (President of the University)
  • Nutter Jeffrey (CFO/Vice President for Business Affairs)
  • Bender Erin (Executive Director - The Point)
  • Bonte Kathleen (Executive Director of Development)

Highest reported compensation

  • Comerford John (President of the University): $449,142 total reported compensation
  • Blackburn-Smith Jefferson (Executive VP for Strategic Initiatives): $239,448 total reported compensation
  • Sherman-Heckler Wendy (Provost): $233,029 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Otterbein University prepares students for a life of purpose through a holistic, student-centered education that integrates academic excellence, community engagement, and personal growth.

What it reported doing in 2024

Otterbein university's commitment is to the liberal arts as the base of all learning. Three features create a distinctive learning culture: 1) from our founding otterbein has been intentionally inclusive of women and persons of color; 2) otterbein's governance system includes students and faculty in decision-making through a single college senate; and 3) interdisciplinary experiences through integrative studies (study of world culture to understand human nature and our place in the universe) and the senior year experience (connecting majors to an interdisciplinary experience). The autumn term enrollment for 2024-2025 was 2,332, consisting of 2,211 undergraduate students and 121 graduate students. 458 students received baccalaureate degrees, 61 received masters degrees and 37 received doctoral degrees in 2024-2025. The university believes that living on campus supports the mission of educating the whole person by providing students with opportunities to build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and to actively participate in campus life. (continued in schedule o).

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 89% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 57% for direct work, and 43% 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 79.2%; rating input score 79; 27th 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: -6.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.2; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 96.8% of revenue deployed · 87.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 24 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $100.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $449K · 31 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $10.8M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 14 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: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.