The 2033 Higher Education Development Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823699790
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5125295097
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nonmonetary Support N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,032,183
Expenses
$8,812,689
Assets
$301,873,066
Liabilities
$296,885,775

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SANFORD L GOTTESMAN (PRESIDENT)
  • JEREMY SMITHEAL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ROSS WILSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN SMITH (DIRECTOR (BEG. JAN 2025)): $1,151,031 total reported compensation
  • KATIE BROCK (DIRECTOR (BEG. FEB 2025)): $585,552 total reported compensation
  • ROSS WILSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $410,707 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To operate exclusively for the benefit of, to perform functions on behalf of, and to carry out the exempt purposes of the university of Texas at austin (the "university"), and to be operated, supervised, or controlled by the university within the meaning of section 509(a)(3)(b)(i) of the code and substantially all of the activities of the corporation will directly further the exempt purposes of the university. In furtherance of the foregoing, the corporation is organized and shall be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, including matters pertaining to the acquisition, management, development, and administration of real property for the benefit of the university.

What it reported doing in 2025

Support ut austin through participating in certain transactions, including securing a long-term ground lease and development of property adjacent to the ut austin dell medical school to enable the expansion of the medical school.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 56
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 93.8%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 40%; rating input score 40; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20.1%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 34.25; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.98; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 48.9% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 45.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75% of revenue deployed · 93.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 7 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $52M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 12 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.