Kentucky · Nonprofit
NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $729,198 to it, the largest being THE R C DURR FOUNDATION INC 541 BUTTERMILK PIKE SUITE 500 ($187,500). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.7M
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $729k
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What Northern Kentucky University Research Foundation Inc does
Mission
The research foundation is organized for educational purposes to support nku's efforts to promote the development, implementation and coordination of sponsored programs invlolving instruction, public service, and research. This includes the administration of conservation easements and other projects that further the mission of northern kentucky universty.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Public service grants provided funding for a number of programsincluding: updward bound program, educational talent search, kheaacollege coaches and federal college coaches, kentucky collegecoaches on campus and host sites, vista program, chase college oflaw fellows, mayerson philanthropy program, and ew scrippsphilanthropy and internship programs.
$3,351,029 spentof which $3,351,029 as grants95% of program spendingIn the areas of student financial assistance and student services,funding provided support for the federal education program, studentsupport services, financial aid programs including funding forproject soar students, upward bound students, and participants intraineeship in special education.
$56,270 spentof which $56,270 as grants2% of program spendingProgram service accomplishments in the areas of basic and appliedresearch included projects such as the nasa funded helix project,study of cosmic rays and work with nasa on the international spacestation. National science foundation sponsored research included astudy of stellar companions, tim consortium of molecular research,technology-centered mathematical noticing, fsml planning grant,heteroarylation of ketones, and search for verifiable complexdiffusion mechanisms.
$1,124 spentof which $1,124 as grants0% of program spendingNon-capital transfers
$125,256 spentof which $125,256 as grants4% of program spendingInstruction
$12,196 spentof which $12,196 as grants0% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,545,875.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $13M to $1.4M (−89%).
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: 2019 92% · 2020 84% · 2021 72% · 2022 70% · 2023 88% · 2024 83% · 2025 83%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 7 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
Mr Craig Holloman
Executive director
Board chair
Dr Samantha Langley
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $20k → $107k.
2 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 26% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
49% 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 NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 54% · 2020 50% · 2021 37% · 2022 38% · 2023 54% — 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
25% of NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 36% 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
60% of NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC's grant income comes from Kentucky funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $71k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC is better cushioned than half of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $9.7M on record.
- Corporation for National and Community Service$5.2M
- Department of Education$3.8M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$476k
- National Science Foundation$243k
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 NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Northern Kentucky University · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: 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 NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC?
- NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $729,198 to it, the largest being THE R C DURR FOUNDATION INC 541 BUTTERMILK PIKE SUITE 500 ($187,500). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $729,198 in grants to NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC?
- THE R C DURR FOUNDATION INC 541 BUTTERMILK PIKE SUITE 500 is the largest funder on record, with $187,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 2019–2025), and the filings of 14 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