Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
Bucknell University
Bucknell University (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 433 organizations whose IRS filings report $115,953,746 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($22,026,589). 264 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $424M
- Funders on record
- 433
- Grants received
- $116M
- Net assets
- $1.5B
What Bucknell University does
Mission
Bucknell is a unique national university where liberal arts and professional programs complement each other. Bucknell educates students for a lifetime of critical thinking and strong leadership characterized by continued intellectual exploration, creativity, and imagination. A Bucknell education enables students to interact daily with faculty who exemplify a passion for learning and a dedication to teaching and scholarship. Bucknell fosters a residential, co-curricular environment in which students develop intellectual maturity, personal conviction and strength of character, informed by a deep understanding of different cultures and diverse perspectives. Bucknell seeks to educate our students to serve the common good and to promote justice in ways sensitive to the moral and ethical dimensions of life.Bucknells rich history and heritage will influence its planning for the future. Bucknells potential as an institution of higher learning extends beyond that of a traditional liberal arts c
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Academic and educational - the expenses of instructional departments and programs and the expenses of activities and services that directly support instruction.
$244,940,933 spentof which $97,049,619 as grants$258,058,248 earned by the program70% of program spendingStudent services - the expenses of activities and services that indirectly support the educational programs such as library services and athletics/recreation.
$56,685,723 spent$3,988,019 earned by the program16% of program spendingAuxiliary enterprises - the expenses of room, board, and other services primarily for the university's students.
$43,470,545 spent$56,490,694 earned by the program12% of program spendingResearch and public services - expenses related to research and public services conducted/provided by students, faculty, and staff.
$4,600,306 spentof which $284,249 as grants1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $349,697,507.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.4B to $1.7B (+19%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 2% · 2021 3% · 2022 2% · 2023 2% · 2024 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
9% of Bucknell University’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 132 funders to 187 funders, grant income rose $9.2M → $10M.
59 of 433 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% 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 Bucknell University’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 433 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
Bucknell University has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
75% 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 Bucknell University.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 27% · 2018 64% · 2019 18% · 2020 21% · 2021 34% · 2022 13% · 2023 16% — 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
46% of Bucknell University'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
65% of Bucknell University's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $40M that is directly attributable, 87% of it comes from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 36 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $76M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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
Bucknell University runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 696 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 696 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2024
Government funding Bucknell University receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $29.4M on record.
- National Science Foundation$14.1M
- Department of Education$9.6M
- Department of Health and Human Services$4.0M
- Department of Agriculture$465k
- Department of Defense$446k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$343k
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 Bucknell 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
59%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 18 states
Part of a family of 13 related entities
- Bucknell Real Estate Inc · exempt
- Bison Ventures Inc · corp_trust
- Charitable remaind trusts 34 · corp_trust
- Charitable lead trusts 1 · corp_trust
- Pooled income funds 3 · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Bucknell 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.
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 Bucknell University?
- Bucknell University (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 433 organizations whose IRS filings report $115,953,746 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($22,026,589). 264 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Bucknell University have?
- IRS filings report 433 organizations giving $115,953,746 in grants to Bucknell University, 264 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Bucknell University?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $22,026,589 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Bucknell University find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 433 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