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Arkansas · Nonprofit

LYON COLLEGE

LYON COLLEGE (Arkansas) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $19,135,684 to it, the largest being Arkansas Animal Rescue Foundation ($17,100,020). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$52M
Funders on record
30
Grants received
$19M
Net assets
$15M
15/30 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 1%
01What it does

What Lyon College does

Mission

Lyon College offers a liberal arts education of superior quality in a personalized setting. A selective, independent, undergraduate, residential teaching and learning community affiliated with the presbyterian church (usa). Lyon encourages the free intellectual inquiry essential to social, ethical and spiritual growth. With a rich scholarly and religious heritage, lyon develops, in a culture of honor, responsible citizens and leaders committed to continued personal growth and service.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Instruction & other academic programs and academic support - undergraduate and non-credit classes are provided.

    $29,199,875 spent$20,858,539 earned by the program
    58% of program spending
  2. Student aid and student loans - scholarships, work study programs, and loans are made available to enable students to continue their educations.

    $13,483,199 spentof which $13,483,199 as grants
    27% of program spending
  3. Auxilary enterprises - housing, food services, and bookstore activities are provided as a service to those on campus to enhance campus life.

    $7,656,070 spent$5,550,335 earned by the program
    15% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $50,339,144.

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 ($28M) Expenses 100 ($34M) Net assets 100 ($60M)2018 Revenue 103 ($28M) Expenses 108 ($36M) Net assets 88 ($53M)2019 Revenue 104 ($29M) Expenses 117 ($39M) Net assets 71 ($43M)2020 Revenue 311 ($86M) Expenses 115 ($39M) Net assets 142 ($86M)2021 Revenue 124 ($34M) Expenses 114 ($38M) Net assets 153 ($93M)2022 Revenue 123 ($34M) Expenses 112 ($38M) Net assets 120 ($72M)2023 Revenue 95 ($26M) Expenses 125 ($42M) Net assets 97 ($59M)2024 Revenue 124 ($34M) Expenses 185 ($62M) Net assets 41 ($25M)2025 Revenue 190 ($52M) Expenses 187 ($63M) Net assets 24 ($15M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (190)Expenses (187)Net assets (24)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 2024 to 2025, from $124M to $170M (+37%).

$89M
$87M
$86M
$124M
$134M
$115M
$107M
$124M
$170M
'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 5% · 2018 6% · 2019 4% · 2020 2% · 2021 10% · 2022 18% · 2023 5% · 2024 3% · 2025 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

42% of LYON COLLEGE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,251 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 8 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$5.9M
’17
−$7.8M
’18
−$10M
’19
$47M
’20
−$3.9M
’21
−$3.6M
’22
−$16M
’23
−$28M
’24
−$10M
’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

Victor Werley

Chairman

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed423817192021182222
Joined·+5+3+6+3+2+5+8+6
No longer listed·924421846
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 11 funders, grant income fell $347k → $256k.

5 of 30 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 LYON COLLEGE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 29 of 30 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

LYON COLLEGE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.

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

89%
largest funder
98%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 86% · 2018 95% · 2019 73% · 2020 38% · 2021 69% · 2022 83% · 2023 78% — 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

37% of LYON COLLEGE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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

99% of LYON COLLEGE's grant income comes from Arkansas funders.

MN
IL
NY
MO
AR
TN
NC
HI
LA
GA
TX

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $206k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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

LYON COLLEGE has grown faster than half of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−19% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve0.3mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)8% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Government funding LYON COLLEGE receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $28.6M on record.

Federal$28.6M
grants $28.6Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Top agencies
  • Department of Health and Human Services$15.2M
  • Department of Education$12.8M
  • Department of Justice$300k
  • Department of Agriculture$298k

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 LYON COLLEGE

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

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

80% of spending goes to programs.

Program 80%Management 16%Fundraising 3%

Governance

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

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LYON COLLEGE: 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 LYON COLLEGE?
LYON COLLEGE (Arkansas) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $19,135,684 to it, the largest being Arkansas Animal Rescue Foundation ($17,100,020). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does LYON COLLEGE have?
IRS filings report 30 organizations giving $19,135,684 in grants to LYON COLLEGE, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of LYON COLLEGE?
Arkansas Animal Rescue Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $17,100,020 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like LYON COLLEGE 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 Lyon College →

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 30 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing