Nonprofit
The University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $992,150 to it, the largest being THE JACQUELYN & GREGORY ZEHNER FOUNDATION ($385,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.8B
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $992k
- Net assets
- $2.8B
What The University of British Columbia does
Mission
Pursuing excellence in research learning and engagement to foster global citizenship and advance a sustainable and just society across British Columbia Canada and the world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The University offers post-secondary education to the general public. The University is also involved in research activities museums conference center performing arts and community services. The amounts reported including earnings and expenditures for goods services bookstore housing and conference center.
$2,510,141,884 spentof which $284,454,912 as grants$1,288,758,472 earned by the program100% of program spendingNot described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spendingNot described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,510,141,884.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2021 to 2022, from $5.9B to $6.2B (+6%).
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: 2021 44% · 2022 39% · 2023 42% · 2024 44% · 2025 46%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
54% of The University of British Columbia’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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
David Shorthouse
Executive Director Academic Portfolio Initiatives
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 2 funders, grant income rose $44k → $439k.
7 of 17 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 The University of British Columbia’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
The University of British Columbia leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
61% 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 The University of British Columbia.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 51% · 2018 81% · 2019 57% · 2020 100% · 2021 79% · 2022 36% · 2023 88% — 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.
How long its funders stay
0% of The University of British Columbia's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 29% 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.
Against its field
The University of British Columbia has grown faster than half of the 679 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 679 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Organizations like The University of British Columbia
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
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 11 related entities
- The American Foundation for the University of British Columbia · exempt
- The Hong Kong Foundation for UBC Limited · exempt
- The UK Foundation of the University of British Columbia · exempt
- The University of British Columbia Foundation · exempt
- UBC Society for the Education of Young Children · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The University of British Columbia: 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 The University of British Columbia?
- The University of British Columbia receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $992,150 to it, the largest being THE JACQUELYN & GREGORY ZEHNER FOUNDATION ($385,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The University of British Columbia have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $992,150 in grants to The University of British Columbia, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The University of British Columbia?
- THE JACQUELYN & GREGORY ZEHNER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $385,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The University of British Columbia 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 17 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