Russell Sage College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
141338488
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Troy, NY, USA
Phone
5182442200
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Reported finances

Revenue
$96,937,929
Expenses
$87,302,917
Assets
$123,661,185
Liabilities
$26,433,097

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

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER AMES (FORMER PRESIDENT - THRU JULY 2024)
  • MATTHEW SHAFTEL (PRESIDENT - AS OF JULY 2024)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTOPHER AMES (FORMER PRESIDENT - THRU JULY 2024): $427,413 total reported compensation
  • THERESA HAND (PROVOST): $212,546 total reported compensation
  • FREDERICK BARTHELMAS (VP FIN/TREASURER): $209,689 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 cultivate, inspire, and transform our students in a nurturing, yet challenging, educational environment to become the managers and leaders organizations need right now.

What it reported doing in 2024

Collegiate education of students

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 63% for direct work, and 37% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • 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: 96.2%; rating input score 96; 50th 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: 9.9%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.42; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.4% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 26 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $75M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $427K · 37 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.2M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.