The Citadel Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
576020493
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Charleston, SC, USA
Phone
8439536914
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$37,924,388
Expenses
$35,560,054
Assets
$332,294,617
Liabilities
$23,463,918

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

Leadership & pay

45 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAY P DOWD III (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAY P DOWD III (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $609,937 total reported compensation
  • SHANNON N MEASE (COO/CFO): $445,870 total reported compensation
  • JONATHAN KRESKEN (VP LEGACY, ANNUAL & REUNION GIVING): $329,113 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 purpose of the citadel foundation shall be exclusively to support the mission of the citadel by raising, receiving, stewarding, granting, investing, and reinvesting money and property, and using the receipts therefrom for the benefit of the citadel.

What it reported doing in 2024

Enrichment programs: the citadel has established a variety of programs to support the college's mission to educate and prepare graduates to become principled leaders in all walks of life by instilling the core values of the citadel in a challenging intellectual environment. These programs enhance the college's academic standing by enabling cadets and citadel graduate college students to participate in external leadership opportunities and conferences, and by helping to promote the citadel through associations with peer institutions focused on leadership development. Examples of program initiatives include:1. The newly established krause school for leadership and ethics, combining the existing krause center and the department of leadership studies to form the college's sixth academic school2. Cybercorps scholarship for service program3. Facility enhancements, including the design of a new school of engineering building, renovations to classroom and labratory spaces in byrd and ducket halls, raising funds to rebuild the east side stands at johnson hagood stadium, and renovating the baseball clubhouse and locker rooms at joe riley park.4. Emerging topics in intelligence and security studies lecture series5. Faculty and student panels exploring the merits, opportunities, and challenges of incorporating artificial intelligence into classroom and campus activities

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 99% of its reported program spending out as 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: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.5%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 69.1%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 6.2%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.34; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 85.5% of revenue deployed · 69.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 31 of 31 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $24.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $610K · 45 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $818K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.