Walton Family Foundation

Legal name: Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581766770
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Bentonville, AR, United States
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Named Trusts N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$95,660,786
Expenses
$27,651,326
Assets
$1,167,655,085
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HEATHER LARKIN (DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT)
  • RICHARD DUNSWORTH (DIRECTOR, VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHARLES POLLARD (DIRECTOR): $494,944 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER LARKIN (DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT): $385,237 total reported compensation
  • RICHARD DUNSWORTH (DIRECTOR, VICE PRESIDENT): $333,804 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Walton Family Foundation is rooted in several generations of family, where no voice is louder than the next and different opinions are valued. We work in three areas: strengthening the connections between education and lifelong opportunity, protecting rivers, oceans and the communities they support and advancing our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2024, the foundation awarded $548.8 million in grants to further our mission. We have offices in Bentonville, Arkansas; Washington, D.C.; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Denver, Colorado. Overview video promo 2018.

What it reported doing in 2025

Grants for supported organizations described in schedule a, part i, line g

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 95
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 41.4%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th 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: 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 71.1%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 42.23; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.6%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.8% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 41.4% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $24.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $495K · 7 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $454K reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 27 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 27 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.