Willamette University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930386972
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Salem, OR, United States
Phone
503-370-6300
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$175,758,393
Expenses
$197,287,493
Assets
$552,119,279
Liabilities
$153,768,288

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

Leadership & pay

48 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEPHEN THORSETT (PRESIDENT)
  • DANIEL VALLES SR VICE (PRESIDENT, COO & TREASURER - 11/1/24)
  • CAROL LONG (PROVOST & SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SHELBY RADCLIFFE (VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT)
  • SHANA SECHRIST (VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL COUNSEL)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHEN THORSETT (PRESIDENT): $663,369 total reported compensation
  • SHELBY RADCLIFFE (VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT): $303,222 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER COLE (DEAN OF PNCA): $292,351 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Willamette University educates students to turn knowledge into action through undergraduate and graduate programs in liberal arts, sciences, management, business, law, computer science, data science, art, and design.

What it reported doing in 2024

Higher education - instruction and support: 1,642 in willamette college, 316 in the school of law, 112 in the atkinson graduate school of management, 28 in the school of computing and information sciences, 69 in a joint degree program, 413 in pacific northwest college of art, and 43 in the hallie ford school of graduate studies (2,623 students).

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 87% 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 53% for direct work, and 47% 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: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.38 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: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 40th 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: -12.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.8; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 33 of 36 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $176M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $663K · 48 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $15.9M reported
  • Consistency: 47 of 47 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.