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Tennessee · Nonprofit

LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY

LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY (Tennessee) receives grants from 202 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,781,950 to it, the largest being THE SHUMARD FOUNDATION INC ($6,968,528). 119 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$272M
Funders on record
202
Grants received
$57M
Net assets
$236M
119/202 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 4%
01What it does

What Lipscomb University does

Mission

We are a christ-centered community preparing learners for purposeful lives through rigorous academics and transformative experiences.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Instructional expenses:classroom and online and global instruction in a collaborative christian liberal arts learning environment from pre-kindergarten through the doctoral level and beyond with lifelong learning.

    $135,293,273 spentof which $67,084,375 as grants$196,635,930 earned by the program
    63% of program spending
  2. Student services:engaging student life in a dynamic and diverse community that gives students the opportunity to be real with themselves and each other while providing opportunities for spiritual faith development through service and learning.

    $36,741,565 spent
    17% of program spending
  3. Auxiliary enterprises:provides students with the engaging on-campus lipscomb experience. Students who live on campus typically experience a strong sense of positive community.

    $19,660,831 spent$23,426,041 earned by the program
    9% of program spending
  4. Academic support:includes academic counseling & testing services, academic program development, university deans, instructional technology, library services, and other areas designed to enhance a student's learning experience and the overall quality of a student's education.

    $20,808,991 spent
    10% of program spending
  5. Public services:includes community outreach activities, spiritual formation activities, and sustainability where lipscomb can positively impact communities and the environment.

    $965,789 spent
    0% of program spending
  6. Research:includes potential discoveries of new outcomes with a goal of advancing progress both institutionally and globally.

The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $213,470,449.

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($188M) Expenses 100 ($177M) Net assets 100 ($181M)2018 Revenue 109 ($205M) Expenses 104 ($185M) Net assets 111 ($200M)2019 Revenue 106 ($200M) Expenses 114 ($202M) Net assets 106 ($192M)2020 Revenue 103 ($194M) Expenses 115 ($205M) Net assets 102 ($185M)2021 Revenue 115 ($216M) Expenses 116 ($206M) Net assets 123 ($222M)2022 Revenue 121 ($227M) Expenses 128 ($228M) Net assets 119 ($215M)2023 Revenue 121 ($228M) Expenses 133 ($236M) Net assets 113 ($203M)2024 Revenue 129 ($243M) Expenses 137 ($244M) Net assets 118 ($213M)2025 Revenue 144 ($272M) Expenses 144 ($255M) Net assets 130 ($236M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (144)Expenses (144)Net assets (130)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $352M to $487M (+38%).

$329M
$352M
$487M
$475M
$503M
$484M
$455M
$460M
$475M
'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 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 5% · 2022 4% · 2023 1% · 2024 2% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$11M
’17
$21M
’18
−$2.7M
’19
−$11M
’20
$10.0M
’21
−$493k
’22
−$7.4M
’23
−$1.1M
’24
$17M
’25
0.3
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

Richard G Cowart

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed484949475552593733
Joined·+8+4+8+13+9+14+3+1
No longer listed·74105127255
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 46 funders to 70 funders, grant income rose $3.3M → $6.8M.

35 of 202 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 202 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

LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left

53% 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 LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY.

12%
largest funder
33%
top three
~17
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 16% · 2019 14% · 2020 22% · 2021 30% · 2022 15% · 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

43% of LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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

LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY draws 58% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 37 states in all.

WA
MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
NV
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $18M 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.

04Its place in the field

Government funding LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $24.4M on record.

Federal$24.4M
grants $24.3Mcontracts $71k
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • Department of Education$17.5M
  • Department of Health and Human Services$5.3M
  • National Science Foundation$1.5M
  • Department of Defense$71k

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 LIPSCOMB 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 Tennessee

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

84% of spending goes to programs.

Program 84%Management 15%Fundraising 1%

Governance

25
board members
88%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Part of a family of 2 related entities

  • Lipscomb-Florence LLC · disregarded
  • Se Music Studio LLC · disregarded

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LIPSCOMB 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY?
LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY (Tennessee) receives grants from 202 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,781,950 to it, the largest being THE SHUMARD FOUNDATION INC ($6,968,528). 119 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY have?
IRS filings report 202 organizations giving $56,781,950 in grants to LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY, 119 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY?
THE SHUMARD FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $6,968,528 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 202 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