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Ohio · Nonprofit

OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (Ohio) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,140,119 to it, the largest being COLUMBUS FOUNDATION ($420,712). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$20M
Funders on record
28
Grants received
$1.1M
Net assets
$30M
13/28 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 1%
01What it does

What Ohio Christian University does

Mission

Ohio Christian University (ocu) is committed to offering a complete education that develops students intellectually, professionally, and spiritually. (continued on schedule o)ocu offers degree programs designed to equip students to become leaders in their careers, communities, families, and in the world.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Higher educationOhio Christian University offers associate, bachelor and masters degrees with concentrations in ministry, business, teacher education, and counseling, servicing over 900 students.

    $17,049,179 spentof which $4,733,536 as grants$16,539,413 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $17,049,179.

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 ($45M) Expenses 100 ($43M) Net assets 100 ($36M)2018 Revenue 93 ($42M) Expenses 92 ($40M) Net assets 104 ($37M)2019 Revenue 75 ($34M) Expenses 85 ($37M) Net assets 97 ($34M)2020 Revenue 57 ($26M) Expenses 59 ($26M) Net assets 99 ($35M)2021 Revenue 57 ($26M) Expenses 61 ($26M) Net assets 100 ($36M)2022 Revenue 49 ($22M) Expenses 51 ($22M) Net assets 98 ($35M)2023 Revenue 44 ($20M) Expenses 48 ($21M) Net assets 96 ($34M)2024 Revenue 39 ($18M) Expenses 47 ($20M) Net assets 90 ($32M)2025 Revenue 44 ($20M) Expenses 49 ($21M) Net assets 83 ($30M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (44)Expenses (49)Net assets (83)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 2017 to 2018, from $55M to $50M (−9%).

$55M
$50M
$47M
$47M
$48M
$46M
$43M
$40M
$37M
'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 4% · 2019 2% · 2020 3% · 2021 21% · 2022 15% · 2023 3% · 2024 1% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

8% of OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,254 orgs

Surplus & reserves

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

$2.1M
’17
$2.2M
’18
−$2.9M
’19
$386k
’20
−$610k
’21
$251k
’22
−$889k
’23
−$2.7M
’24
−$1.6M
’25
1.1
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

Rev Mike Holbrook

Chairman

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed201914141717171921
Joined·+4+1+0+5+0+3+4+5
No longer listed·56020323
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base held at 6 funders, grant income fell $343k → $191k.

8 of 28 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% 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 OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY’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

OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

56% 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 OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY.

37%
largest funder
79%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 77% · 2018 57% · 2019 60% · 2020 87% · 2021 46% · 2022 46% · 2023 79% — broadly stable.

“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

27% of OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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

OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY draws 76% of its grant income from funders outside Ohio, across 5 states in all.

NY
OH
VA
MD
FL

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

’17
’18
’20
’21
’22
’23
Ohio out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $554k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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

OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY's revenue fell 56% between 2017 and 2025.

Operating margin−8% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve1.1mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)−10% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Government funding OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $12.6M on record.

Federal$12.6M
grants $12.6Mcontracts $0
20
21
22
Top agencies
  • Department of Education$12.6M

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 OHIO CHRISTIAN 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 Ohio

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 18%Fundraising 2%

Governance

15
board members
93%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

84%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

OH

Part of a family of 2 related entities

  • Churches of Christ in Christian Union · exempt
  • Charitable Remainder Unitrust (1) · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OHIO CHRISTIAN 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 OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY?
OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (Ohio) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,140,119 to it, the largest being COLUMBUS FOUNDATION ($420,712). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY have?
IRS filings report 28 organizations giving $1,140,119 in grants to OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY?
COLUMBUS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $420,712 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Ohio Christian 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 28 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