Nonprofit
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $253,162 to it, the largest being Humanity United Action ($200,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $709M
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $253k
- Net assets
- $967M
What Simon Fraser University does
Mission
SFUs mission is to advance knowledge through teaching research and engagement with the community. We are an open inclusive university whose foundation is intellectual and academic freedom. Our scholarship unites teaching and research: we celebrate discovery diversity and dialogue. Our students and communities can expect teaching that is personal and learning opportunities that are lifelong. We champion the liberal arts and sciences and pioneering interdisciplinary and professional programs. We are a university where risks can be taken and bold initiatives embraced. Upon these foundations we will engage all our communities in building a robust and ethical society.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Post Secondary Education Teaching: Delivery of Academic courses to students enrolled in Undergraduate Master and Doctorate programs as well as distance education and non-credit courses offered through Life-Long Learning. Number of students enrolled in our fiscal year April 1 2024 through March 31 2025 29,001 Undergraduates; 5,074 Graduates; including 6,927 International Students in total. Degrees awarded in the 2024 calendar year: 5,019 Bachelor; 1,253 Master; 170 PHD; 863 Other Grad Certificates and Diplomas
$436,943,936 spentof which $34,010,280 as grants$213,658,285 earned by the program73% of program spendingResearch: At SFU Research Matters its an essential component of SFUs mission and also a major instructional activity as faculty work closely with graduate and undergraduate students in a wide variety of research settings including the Library laboratories computer facilities and studios. Research collaborations extend far beyond our campuses to include many projects conducted jointly with business and industry community organizations and agencies in all levels of government. SFU researchers are establishing or strengthening programs in areas facing the most pressing social demand including international studies urban growth management public policy analysis and health sciences.
$95,662,510 spentof which $852,612 as grants$82,007,514 earned by the program16% of program spendingAncillary Services: The University provides goods and services with a student and community focus. Examples of such services include: student residences bookstore printing parking food meetings and events. In 2024 2025 these services were delivered internally alone to 29,001 Undergrad students 5,074 Grad students 3,716 full time faculty & staff and 2,396 part time faculty & staff
$20,238,594 spent$35,554,677 earned by the program3% of program spendingOther program services include Specific Purpose Funds: Typically these programs are funded by grants and contracts from external sponsors donors various levels of government and endowment investment income attributed for spending. Expenditures include scholarships bursaries community services and other teaching priorities. Funds are often designated for the acquisition of buildings furniture and equipment including major renovations.
$42,201,641 spentof which $8,333,992 as grants$22,784,626 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $595,046,681.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $1.6B to $2.0B (+29%).
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: 2020 31% · 2021 35% · 2022 35% · 2023 30% · 2024 40% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
42% of SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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
Martin Paula
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $16k → $212k.
1 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 SIMON FRASER 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
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 58% · 2023 94% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
Against its field
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY's funding has concentrated — grant income rose while the number of funders held roughly flat.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 679 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Organizations like SIMON FRASER 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.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- The Friends of Simon Fraser University · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SIMON FRASER 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 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY?
- SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $253,162 to it, the largest being Humanity United Action ($200,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $253,162 in grants to SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY.
- Who is the largest funder of SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY?
- Humanity United Action is the largest funder on record, with $200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations. 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 Simon Fraser University →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 5 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