To provide the highest quality liberal and professional education and to integrate the two by creating a stimulating intellectual community.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
85¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 1,000 volunteers and 3,124 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
4 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $11.5M a year · 4% of revenue · last 6 filings
Fine: a surplus in 4 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
85%
of spending
Looks good: 85% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$5.6M
to officers and key staff · 2% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 2% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
<1 mo
of spending, in cash
Plus $430.3M in investments, Pt X · Ln 11–13
Fine: 0.0 months of spending in cash, plus $430.3M in investments.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
12
named funders · $300K
Looks good: 12 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$226.9M
29% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 29% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
29
of 31 voting members
Looks good: 29 of 31 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$365.4M
+14% vs prior year
Spent
$356.7M
To programs
85%
Net assets
$565.4M
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$365.4M
FY2025▲ +14%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$274.4M
FY2021$305.0M
FY2022$355.7M
FY2023$290.6M
FY2024$320.7M
FY2025$365.4M
Expenses
$356.7M
FY2025▲ +6%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$270.8M
FY2021$267.5M
FY2022$295.8M
FY2023$315.8M
FY2024$336.1M
FY2025$356.7M
Net assets
$565.4M
FY2025▲ +7%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$429.6M
FY2021$530.4M
FY2022$513.1M
FY2023$502.3M
FY2024$528.0M
FY2025$565.4M

From the FY2025 Form 990 (year ending May 2025) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Nov 1938.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

85 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 85% · $302.1M Management & general 14% · $50.2M Fundraising 1% · $4.4M

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

41 people listed on the 990; $5.6M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2024); the FY2025 filing did not itemize Part VII
Men's Basketball Head Coach
$2,649,530Pt VII · Sec A
President
$925,823Pt VII · Sec A
Provost/EVP - Academic Affairs
$346,201Pt VII · Sec A
Women's Basketball Coach
$319,717Pt VII · Sec A
EVP - Finance & Admin/COO/Asst Treas.
$315,437Pt VII · Sec A
Men's Basketball Assistant Coach
$313,285Pt VII · Sec A
VP and Athletics Director
$305,565Pt VII · Sec A
General Counsel/Asst Secretary
$289,713Pt VII · Sec A

Thad Matta’s $2.6M as Men's Basketball Head Coach is at the 93rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 674 $100M+ education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Thad Matta$2,649,530$2,636,040————
Lavall Jordan End 4122——$2,318,038———
Thad Matta Beg 4322——$1,966,014———
Lavall Jordan———$1,753,746$1,640,009$1,553,419
James Danko$925,823$934,831$791,993$847,222$679,899$854,498
Kurt Godlevske End 4522——$454,224———
Barry Collier—$403,216$382,958$392,863$365,121$374,057
Brooke Barnett$346,201$332,953$320,000———

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Provides a high-quality liberal arts and professional education integrated with experiential learning opportunities like internships, research, and study abroad to prepare students for careers.

Questions for Butler University

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $302.1M · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

Education

Butler university delivers an outstanding education steeped in the liberal arts and coupled with experiential learning opportunities that include internships, study abroad, service projects, and scholarly research. Through this comprehensive approach, we prepare students to step directly into a career or graduate school with confidence.

$302.1Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
See all 12 funders →
Grants paid · 6 grants · $525.2M · 2019–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$94,933,690
Unitemized GrantFY2023$94,317,547
Unitemized GrantFY2022$88,585,219
Unitemized GrantFY2021$85,893,648
Unitemized GrantFY2020$84,673,671
Unitemized GrantFY2019$76,806,318

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$365.4M
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$294.1M
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$57.8M
Investment incomeLn 3$13.3M
Money outPt IX
$356.7M
Ln 25
Programscol B$302.1M
Managementcol C$50.2M
Fundraisingcol D$4.4M
Owns and owesPt X
$565.4M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$396K
Total assetsLn 16$792.3M
LiabilitiesLn 26$226.9M
PeoplePt VI, VII
41
listed · VII A
PaidVII A9
Voting boardVI 1a31
IndependentVI 1b29
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$57.8M
Government grantsLn 1e$1.1M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$2.4M
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$41K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$294.1M
Investment incomeLn 3$13.3M
Other incomeLn 4–11$114K
Gains on assetsLn 7$15.7M
Total revenueLn 12$365.4M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
SavingsLn 2$396K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$396K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$430.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$297.3M
Other assetsLn 15$57K
Total assetsLn 16$792.3M
LiabilitiesLn 26$226.9M
Net assetsLn 32$565.4M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 53,124
VolunteersI 61,000
Fiscal year endsHeaderMay
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$4.7M$396K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$393.3M$430.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$296.9M$297.3M
Total assetsLn 16$756.2M$792.3M
LiabilitiesLn 26$228.2M$226.9M
Net assetsLn 32$528.0M$565.4M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$94.9M$94.9M
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$649K$649K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$1.7M$1.3M$427K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$68K$68K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$102.0M$81.4M$18.3M$2.3M
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$7.9M$6.0M$1.7M$151K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$22.5M$16.0M$5.8M$575K
Payroll taxesLn 10$7.1M$5.6M$1.3M$173K
Legal feesLn 11b$317K$6K$310K
Accounting feesLn 11c$239K$239K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$44K$44K
Investment management feesLn 11f$4.4M$4.4M
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$36.1M$29.3M$6.7M$145K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$1.7M$1.2M$525K$84
Office expensesLn 13$8.2M$6.8M$1.3M$156K
Information technologyLn 14$2.7M$2.5M$200K$6K
OccupancyLn 16$10.3M$9.6M$655K$11K
TravelLn 17$12.5M$11.1M$1.0M$402K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$467K$413K$51K$3K
InterestLn 20$5.4M$5.0M$398K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$27.4M$25.4M$1.9M
InsuranceLn 23$2.5M$1.8M$649K$42K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$7.7M$4.4M$3.1M$84K
All other expensesLn 24e$0$0$0$0
Total functional expensesLn 25$356.7M$302.1M$50.2M$4.4M

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest Viewing $365.4M$356.7M$8.7M$565.4M 990 PDF
FY2024 $320.7M$336.1M−$15.4M$528.0M 990 PDF
FY2023 $290.6M$315.8M−$25.1M$502.3M 990 PDF
FY2022 $355.7M$295.8M$59.9M$513.1M 990 PDF
FY2021 $305.0M$267.5M$37.5M$530.4M 990 PDF
FY2020 $274.4M$270.8M$3.5M$429.6M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $365,379,403 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $26,115,209$57,798,383
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $282,840,251$294,118,371
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $11,635,921$13,348,671
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $126,077$113,978
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $320,717,458$365,379,403
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $95,336,196$95,582,960
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $131,856,686$141,157,583
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $108,942,880$119,921,238
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $336,135,762$356,661,781
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$15,418,304$8,717,622
Part VI · Governance 29 of 31 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body31
VI-1b Independent voting members29
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $365,379,403 across 12 lines filed
VIII-1c Fundraising events$41,300
VIII-1d Related organizations$196,328
VIII-1e Government grants$1,073,469
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$56,487,286
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$2,361,581
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$57,798,383
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $294,118,371$294,118,371
VIII-3 Investment incomeUnrelated business $1,055,626 · Excluded from tax −$3,429,813−$2,374,187
VIII-6 Net rental income or lossUnrelated business $103,883$103,883
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $15,722,858$15,722,858
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax $10,095$10,095
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $294,118,371 · Unrelated business $1,159,509 · Excluded from tax $12,303,140$365,379,403
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $356,661,781 across 24 lines filed
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $94,933,690$94,933,690
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $649,270$649,270
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffManagement $1,265,036 · Fundraising $426,734$1,691,770
IX-6 Pay of disqualified personsManagement $67,660$67,660
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $81,351,084 · Management $18,345,631 · Fundraising $2,259,526$101,956,241
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $5,981,889 · Management $1,741,190 · Fundraising $150,936$7,874,015
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $16,033,609 · Management $5,846,405 · Fundraising $575,213$22,455,227
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $5,592,507 · Management $1,347,209 · Fundraising $172,954$7,112,670
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $6,423 · Management $310,259$316,682
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $238,877$238,877
IX-11d Lobbying feesManagement $44,000$44,000
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $4,395,504$4,395,504
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $29,265,130 · Management $6,728,498 · Fundraising $145,344$36,138,972
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $1,157,092 · Management $525,149 · Fundraising $84$1,682,325
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $6,812,121 · Management $1,259,842 · Fundraising $156,326$8,228,289
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $2,483,821 · Management $200,174 · Fundraising $5,733$2,689,728
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $9,611,775 · Management $654,586 · Fundraising $10,724$10,277,085
IX-17 TravelPrograms $11,143,906 · Management $1,001,861 · Fundraising $402,411$12,548,178
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $413,064 · Management $50,689 · Fundraising $2,844$466,597
IX-20 InterestPrograms $4,982,677 · Management $398,270$5,380,947
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $25,417,443 · Management $1,948,186$27,365,629
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $1,780,728 · Management $649,305 · Fundraising $42,005$2,472,038
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $4,449,930 · Management $3,142,357 · Fundraising $84,100$7,676,387
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $302,066,159 · Management $50,160,688 · Fundraising $4,434,934$356,661,781
Part X · Balance sheet $792,307,471 assets, 19 lines filed
Asset lines not itemized here account for $25,269,330; see the IRS return.
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $4,690,009$396,183
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $15,866,155$24,816,806
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $4,934,402$6,284,422
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $165,775$195,599
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $5,840,196$7,695,637
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $296,924,856$297,308,050
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $109,375,201$121,223,228
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $283,904,424$309,061,436
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $13,971,772$56,780
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $756,218,829$792,307,471
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $23,682,474$21,313,656
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $19,114,612$28,445,032
X-20 Tax-exempt bond liabilitiesStart of year $179,829,127$168,454,853
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $5,555,716$8,710,015
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $228,181,929$226,923,556
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $232,000,596$216,969,538
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $296,036,304$348,414,377
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $528,036,900$565,383,915
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $756,218,829$792,307,471
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $565,383,915 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$365,379,403
XI-2 Total expenses$356,661,781
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$8,717,622
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$528,036,900
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$28,629,393
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$565,383,915

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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