Indiana · Nonprofit
Indiana University Foundation
Indiana University Foundation (Indiana) receives grants from 625 organizations whose IRS filings report $561,680,712 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($266,452,741). 368 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $599M
- Funders on record
- 625
- Grants received
- $562M
- Net assets
- $3.9B
What Indiana University Foundation does
Mission
The Indiana University Foundation (IUF) maximizes private philanthropic support for Indiana University by fostering lifelong relationships with key stakeholders and providing advancement leadership and fundraising services for (Continued on Schedule O) campuses and units across the university.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Academic & Student Program Support - The IUF provided over $225 million to the University to support academic & student programs. These funds enable dedicated students to develop skills and knowledge for growth and success by offering high-quality, responsive academic and student programs by employing best practices in teaching and learning; adding to the accumulated body of knowledge and creative work; enriching the community through cultural leadership and providing resources for problem solving.
$230,003,891 spentof which $225,357,187 as grants$28,042,343 earned by the program51% of program spendingFaculty Support and Research - With approximately $80.5 million from IUF, University faculty and staff received additional support allowing for increased research opportunities and improved classroom experiences for all students. Private gift support helps meet the University's goal to attract and retain world-class faculty, which ultimately attracts the best and brightest students. During 2025, the number of endowed faculty positions (chairs, professorships, and fellowships) totaled 595.
$82,225,153 spentof which $80,563,981 as grants$10,024,987 earned by the program18% of program spendingStudent Scholarship and Financial Aid support - Indiana University undergraduate and graduate students received more than $75 million in scholarships, fellowships, and awards from private gift support. Students received scholarship support across all programs and units of the University. With the University seeing record enrollment numbers, private gift support is critical to ensure that all willing students are able to explore their educational opportunities, experience college life, and efficiently manage tuition costs and debt loads. In FY2025, nearly 16,500 scholarships supporting University students were funded by private gift support. See Schedule O for Part III, Line 4c continued. IU and IUF development officers engage prospects with regard to the financial needs of students and are educated about student financial needs.
$76,980,710 spentof which $75,425,490 as grants$9,385,578 earned by the program17% of program spendingInvestment Management The primary investment objective of the IUF's Pooled Long Term Fund asset management program is to achieve an annualized total return (net of fees and expenses), through appreciation and income, equal to or greater than the rate of inflation plus any spending and administrative expenses thus, at a minimum, maintaining the purchasing power of those assets managed by the IUF. The assets are to be managed in a manner that will meet the primary investment objective, and where possible, to seek growth above the objective, while at the same time attempting to limit volatility for year-to-year spending.The IUF has adopted endowment investment and spending policies that attempt to provide a consistent purchasing power of endowment assets. Under this policy, endowment assets are invested in a manner that is intended to yield a long-term rate of return that exceeds the distribution rate, inflation, and administrative fees of the endowment, while assuming a prudent level of investment risk. Actual results may not be sufficient to achieve this over some shorter time frames.Working with top-tier investment managers allows IUF to appropriately diversify our investment…
$35,477,895 spent$4,316,033 earned by the program8% of program spendingEndowment Capital Additions and Facilities - The IUF provided over $22 million to the University in support of new building construction, renovation and equipment needs. State-of-the-art facilities help the University attract high-caliber faculty and students. These facilities provide space, environments, and technologies that promote the highest levels of teaching, learning and research.
$22,684,438 spentof which $22,226,151 as grants$2,765,713 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $447,372,087.
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 $3.1B to $4.0B (+30%).
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.
56% of Indiana University Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
J Thomas Forbes
President and CEO
Board chair
Pamela S Whitten
Chairman of the Board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 152 funders to 253 funders, grant income fell $72M → $42M.
75 of 625 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.
Left out of every figure on this page: $63M from 66 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Walther Cancer Foundation Inc); $15M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money Indiana University Foundation raised.
From the IRS filings of Indiana University Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 625 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
Indiana University Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 47% of grant income and the top three 60%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
29% 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 Indiana University Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 27% · 2019 50% · 2020 33% · 2021 29% · 2022 16% · 2023 20% — 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 Indiana University Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
82% of Indiana University Foundation's grant income comes from Indiana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $80M arriving through sponsors registered in 24 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
Indiana University Foundation runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 684 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding Indiana University Foundation receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8k on record.
- DIRECT STATE SERVICES - NON-SALARY$7k
- FEDERAL$600
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 Indiana University Foundation
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
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
64%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 23 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Charitable Remainder Trusts (69) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Indiana University Foundation: 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 Indiana University Foundation?
- Indiana University Foundation (Indiana) receives grants from 625 organizations whose IRS filings report $561,680,712 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($266,452,741). 368 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Indiana University Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 625 organizations giving $561,680,712 in grants to Indiana University Foundation, 368 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Indiana University Foundation?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $266,452,741 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Indiana University Foundation 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 625 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