Indiana · Nonprofit
Ball State University Foundation Inc
Ball State University Foundation Inc (Indiana) receives grants from 142 organizations whose IRS filings report $74,206,535 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($41,337,800). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $30M
- Funders on record
- 142
- Grants received
- $74M
- Net assets
- $423M
What Ball State University Foundation Inc does
Mission
Our mission is to optimize sustainable support for Ball State University by obtaining, investing, and managing private gifts wisely while fulfilling our fiduciary responsibilities to Donors, the University, and designated beneficiaries. The Ball State University Foundation will continue to support the University's mission by maintaining its reputation as an institution of excellence while fostering a culture of philanthropy, service, volunteer leadership, and exemplary fiduciary responsibility.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Support of facilities and equipment to enhance the educational opportunities and environment for ball state university students.
$13,251,743 spentof which $13,251,743 as grants48% of program spendingSupport is provided to ball state university in the following areas academic programs, advancement and development, faculty support, research, faculty and student recruitment, public service, external relationships, artwork, library materials, and athletics. These programs serve to enhance the educational experience.
$10,462,131 spentof which $8,622,663 as grants38% of program spendingScholarships and financial aid are provided to students at ball state university to further their educational goals. During fiscal year 2025, the foundation provided over $25 million to ball state university, including 1,860 scholarships impacting over 1,500 students.
$4,031,430 spentof which $4,031,430 as grants15% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $27,745,304.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $343M to $414M (+20%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
89% of Ball State University Foundation Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Mary Serine
Sr exec dir of advancement
Board chair
Patrick J Alderice
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 31 funders to 63 funders, grant income rose $3.8M → $42M.
41 of 142 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 22% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $9.0M from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest George and Frances Ball Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money Ball State University Foundation Inc raised.
From the IRS filings of Ball State University Foundation Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 142 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Ball State University Foundation Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
26% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Ball State University Foundation Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 23% · 2018 23% · 2019 20% · 2020 59% · 2021 18% · 2022 21% · 2023 87% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
47% of Ball State University Foundation Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
88% of Ball State University Foundation Inc's grant income comes from Indiana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $16M arriving through sponsors registered in 19 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Ball State University Foundation Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like Ball State University Foundation Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Indiana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 5 related entities
- Ball State University · exempt
- Cardinal Funds · exempt
- Cardinal Properties · exempt
- Ball State University Alumni Association · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Trusts (5) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Ball State University Foundation Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Ball State University Foundation Inc?
- Ball State University Foundation Inc (Indiana) receives grants from 142 organizations whose IRS filings report $74,206,535 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($41,337,800). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Ball State University Foundation Inc have?
- IRS filings report 142 organizations giving $74,206,535 in grants to Ball State University Foundation Inc, 87 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Ball State University Foundation Inc?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $41,337,800 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Ball State University Foundation Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Indiana. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 142 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing