Ohio · Nonprofit
Otterbein University
Otterbein University (Ohio) receives grants from 109 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,151,023 to it, the largest being COLUMBUS FOUNDATION ($1,636,843). 63 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $107M
- Funders on record
- 109
- Grants received
- $10M
- Net assets
- $207M
What Otterbein University does
Mission
Otterbein University is an inclusive community dedicated to educating the whole person in the context of humane values. Our mission is to prepare graduates to think deeply and broadly, to engage locally and globally, and to advance their professions and communities. (continued on Schedule O
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Otterbein University's commitment is to the liberal arts as the base of all learning. Three features create a distinctive learning culture: 1) from our founding otterbein has been intentionally inclusive of women and persons of color; 2) otterbein's governance system includes students and faculty in decision-making through a single college senate; and 3) interdisciplinary experiences through integrative studies (study of world culture to understand human nature and our place in the universe) and the senior year experience (connecting majors to an interdisciplinary experience). The autumn term enrollment for 2024-2025 was 2,332, consisting of 2,211 undergraduate students and 121 graduate students. 458 students received baccalaureate degrees, 61 received masters degrees and 37 received doctoral degrees in 2024-2025. The university believes that living on campus supports the mission of educating the whole person by providing students with opportunities to build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and to actively participate in campus life. (continued in schedule o).
$100,345,486 spentof which $43,531,869 as grants$92,198,476 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $100,345,486.
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 $237M to $261M (+10%).
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 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 3% · 2021 6% · 2022 6% · 2023 1% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
7% of Otterbein University’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Harrell Jr William E
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 39 funders, grant income rose $510k → $1.4M.
25 of 109 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 Otterbein University’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 109 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
Otterbein University has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
60% 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 Otterbein University.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 16% · 2019 15% · 2020 32% · 2021 20% · 2022 36% · 2023 26% — 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
45% of Otterbein University's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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 Otterbein University's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
Otterbein University's funding base is broadening — from 21 funders to 39 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding Otterbein University receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $15.6M on record.
- Department of Education$12.3M
- National Science Foundation$2.5M
- Department of Justice$699k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$56k
- National Endowment for the Arts$30k
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 Otterbein 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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
69%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Jl Systems Inc · disregarded
- Coalition for the Common Good Dba Antioch University · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Trust · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Otterbein 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 Otterbein University?
- Otterbein University (Ohio) receives grants from 109 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,151,023 to it, the largest being COLUMBUS FOUNDATION ($1,636,843). 63 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Otterbein University have?
- IRS filings report 109 organizations giving $10,151,023 in grants to Otterbein University, 63 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Otterbein University?
- COLUMBUS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,636,843 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Otterbein 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 Otterbein 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 109 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