Arkansas · Nonprofit
JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY
JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY (Arkansas) receives grants from 102 organizations whose IRS filings report $70,250,923 to it, the largest being WALTON FAMILY CHARITABLE SUPPORT FOUNDATION INC ($37,084,859). 56 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $95M
- Funders on record
- 102
- Grants received
- $70M
- Net assets
- $336M
What John Brown University does
Mission
John Brown University (jbu) provides christ-centered education that prepares students to honor god and serve others by developing their intellectual, spiritual, and professional lives. (continued on schedule o)jbu serves traditional undergraduate students on its residential campus in siloam springs, arkansas. Jbu also offers non-traditional undergraduate degrees through its online undergraduate program. In addition, the graduate school at John Brown University serves graduate students.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Instructional services - jbu currently enrolls more than 2,300 students in its three primary academic programs: traditional undergraduate, online undergraduate, and graduate. Through its instructional services, jbu offers more than 50 traditional undergraduate majors, 64 undergraduate minors, 12 graduate degrees, and 9 undergraduate online programs. The faculty to student ratio is 14:1. The top traditional programs of study by major enrollment are: nursing, psychology, construction management, graphic design, family & human services, mechanical engineering, kinesiology, computer science, biology, film, and art & illustration. The jbu online undergraduate program offers undergraduate degrees in business, interdisciplinary studies, and psychology. (continued on schedule o)the graduate school offers degrees in business, counseling, cybersecurity, and teacher education. The graduation rate is consistently above 65% and traditional undergraduate retention is above 80%. In addition to major level courses, undergraduates are required to take general education courses that emphasize the integration of intellectual and spiritual development.
$43,842,452 spentof which $25,804,562 as grants$47,596,427 earned by the program62% of program spendingAuxiliary- John Brown University offers a traditional residential undergraduate program at its siloam springs campus, a formational part of the jbu educational experience. The university requires non-local traditional undergraduate students who do not have senior status to live on campus. Jbu has a wide variety of campus housing, including four residential halls, town homes, apartments, and duplexes. During the traditional academic year, jbu provides full cafeteria service to students.
$9,718,112 spentof which $734,443 as grants$10,951,796 earned by the program14% of program spendingStudent services - John Brown University offers spiritual formation, wellness, counseling, and career development services to traditional undergraduate, online undergraduate and graduate students, and, on a limited basis, to the broader jbu community. Jbu also offers traditional undergraduate students opportunities to compete in naia intercollegiate athletic competition. Student services covers a broad variety of co-curricular activities which help students in personal and professional development.
$9,479,640 spentof which $12,600 as grants13% of program spendingAcademic support - jbu enriches the students' educational experience through academic support in the form of library services, registrar services, information technology support, and faculty professional development.
$5,636,256 spent8% of program spendingPublic service- the university is home to the center for healthy relationships. The university also owns and operates klrc radio, a 100,000 watt fm radio station.
$1,651,029 spent$1,767,382 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $70,327,489.
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 $240M to $290M (+21%).
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 3% · 2018 3% · 2019 3% · 2020 4% · 2021 5% · 2022 8% · 2023 3% · 2024 5% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
23% of JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Dr Kenneth Hahn
Department chair, general science; professor of ph
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018, and between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 20 funders to 38 funders, grant income rose $277k → $7.3M.
22 of 102 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 102 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
JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 53% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
92% 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 JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 23% · 2018 89% · 2019 36% · 2020 70% · 2021 41% · 2022 36% · 2023 39% — 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
39% of JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
58% of JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY's grant income comes from Arkansas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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
JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY runs a healthier operating margin 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
Government funding JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10.5M on record — $10.5M federal, $13 state.
- Department of Education$10.4M
- National Endowment for the Arts$10k
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $13
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 JOHN BROWN 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 Arkansas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
48%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 5 states
Part of a family of 7 related entities
- The John Brown University Foundation · exempt
- John Brown University Northern Ireland · exempt
- Makeup Unitrust (2) · corp_trust
- Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (1) · corp_trust
- Flip Makeup Unitrust (1) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for JOHN BROWN 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 JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY?
- JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY (Arkansas) receives grants from 102 organizations whose IRS filings report $70,250,923 to it, the largest being WALTON FAMILY CHARITABLE SUPPORT FOUNDATION INC ($37,084,859). 56 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY have?
- IRS filings report 102 organizations giving $70,250,923 in grants to JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY, 56 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY?
- WALTON FAMILY CHARITABLE SUPPORT FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $37,084,859 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arkansas. 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 John Brown 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 102 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