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Ohio · Nonprofit

Bluffton University

Bluffton University (Ohio) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,081,668 to it, the largest being THE AUSTIN E KNOWLTON FOUNDATION INC ($3,525,000). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$30M
Funders on record
40
Grants received
$5.1M
Net assets
$57M
25/40 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 6%
01What it does

What Bluffton University does

Mission

Shaped by the historic peace church tradition and nourished by a desire for excellence in all phases of its programs, Bluffton University seeks to prepare students of all backgrounds for life as well as vocation, for responsible citizenship, for service to all peoples and, ultimately, for the purpose of god's universal kingdom.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Bluffton University provides an educational experience that promotes our four enduring values of discovery, community, respect and service. One can choose from 45 majors and more than 41 minors. Business administration, education, sport management, and nutrition and dietetics are among our largest majors. We also offer graduate programs in education and business. Our student aid program served 566 students and allows the institution to provide an education that helps students find their greater purpose.

    $30,168,603 spentof which $13,588,454 as grants$27,053,617 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $30,168,603.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($34M) Expenses 100 ($35M) Net assets 100 ($56M)2018 Revenue 93 ($32M) Expenses 95 ($33M) Net assets 100 ($56M)2019 Revenue 90 ($31M) Expenses 92 ($32M) Net assets 97 ($54M)2020 Revenue 93 ($32M) Expenses 96 ($33M) Net assets 93 ($52M)2021 Revenue 104 ($36M) Expenses 95 ($33M) Net assets 106 ($59M)2022 Revenue 103 ($36M) Expenses 101 ($35M) Net assets 102 ($57M)2023 Revenue 100 ($34M) Expenses 99 ($34M) Net assets 104 ($58M)2024 Revenue 98 ($34M) Expenses 101 ($35M) Net assets 104 ($58M)2025 Revenue 87 ($30M) Expenses 95 ($33M) Net assets 102 ($57M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (87)Expenses (95)Net assets (102)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $74M to $70M (−5%).

$76M
$75M
$74M
$70M
$72M
$70M
$70M
$69M
$67M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 0% · 2021 0% · 2022 0% · 2023 6% · 2024 0% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

7% of Bluffton University’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,254 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$202k
’17
−$1.0M
’18
−$899k
’19
−$996k
’20
$3.1M
’21
$614k
’22
−$61k
’23
−$950k
’24
−$2.9M
’25
1.7
months of
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.

Board chair

Cheryl Hacker

Board chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed242223242625232121
Joined·+5+7+4+4+3+4+3+2
No longer listed·76324652
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 14 funders, grant income fell $1.9M → $152k.

17 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of Bluffton University’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 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

Bluffton University leans on a few funders — its largest provides 69% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

69%
largest funder
80%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 93% · 2018 92% · 2019 34% · 2020 21% · 2021 41% · 2022 39% · 2023 24% — diversifying over time.

“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

45% of Bluffton University's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

93% of Bluffton University's grant income comes from Ohio funders.

MN
IL
WI
NY
OH
PA
MO
DC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Ohio out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $708k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Bluffton University receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $5.1M to it.

Operating margin−10% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve1.7mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−2% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Government funding Bluffton University receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.1M on record.

Federal$4.1M
grants $4.1Mcontracts $0
20
21
Top agencies
  • Department of Education$4.1M

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like Bluffton University

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 Ohio

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

91% of spending goes to programs.

Program 91%Management 6%Fundraising 3%

Governance

15
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Charitable Remainder Trusts (1) · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Bluffton University: 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.

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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 Bluffton University?
Bluffton University (Ohio) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,081,668 to it, the largest being THE AUSTIN E KNOWLTON FOUNDATION INC ($3,525,000). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Bluffton University have?
IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $5,081,668 in grants to Bluffton University, 25 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Bluffton University?
THE AUSTIN E KNOWLTON FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $3,525,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Bluffton University find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Bluffton University →

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 40 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