Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Aug 2000.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
88 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
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
42 people listed on the 990; $1.5M paid to officers and key staff.
William M Downs’s $492K as President (thru 2/2025) is at the 37th 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
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William M Downs | $492,372 | $511,876 | $433,746 | $363,677 | $365,112 |
| Andrew Goodrich | $198,264 | $207,981 | — | — | — |
| James Craft | — | $204,362 | $185,208 | $190,613 | $193,113 |
| Karen Aubrey | $201,570 | $197,435 | — | — | — |
| Prince Hycy Bull | $194,276 | — | — | — | — |
| Christopher Reisert | $187,242 | — | — | — | — |
| Nathaniel Evans | $161,223 | — | $182,043 | — | — |
| Prince Bull | — | — | $179,564 | $168,832 | $168,365 |
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 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Offers undergraduate and graduate education grounded in liberal arts, preparing students for professions and life.
Questions for Gardner-Webb University
Your first name shows with your question. Gardner-Webb University answers here, for everyone.
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The primary goal of gardner-webb university is to provide education to students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees. The university enrolled approximately 3,813 students during 2021-2022 and awarded approximately $34m in scholarships and tuition assistance.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2022 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY22 | End FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $23.0M | $25.3M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $78.6M | $69.4M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $53.0M | $51.4M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $163.5M | $153.6M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $32.0M | $30.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $131.5M | $122.9M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $34.4M | $34.4M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $644K | $644K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $27.9M | $23.6M | $3.7M | $534K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $1.2M | $991K | $148K | $22K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $4.0M | $3.4M | $545K | $76K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $2.0M | $1.7M | $300K | $38K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $38K | $38K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $131K | $131K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $323K | $323K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $381K | $67K | $315K | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $2.3M | $700K | $1.6M | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $1.1M | $865K | $259K | |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $901K | $75K | $826K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $2.4M | $2.3M | $33K | $15K |
| TravelLn 17 | $2.0M | $1.9M | $57K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $929K | $446K | $483K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $1.1M | $886K | $84K | $84K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $4.3M | $4.2M | $59K | $27K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $807K | $39K | $767K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $12.2M | $11.1M | $913K | $195K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $98.8M | $86.6M | $11.2M | $990K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $107.7M | $103.4M | $4.4M | $136.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $101.9M | $99.9M | $2.0M | $134.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $97.3M | $99.3M | −$1.9M | $126.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 Viewing | $103.1M | $98.8M | $4.3M | $122.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $101.0M | $95.3M | $5.7M | $131.5M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2022 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $103,135,532 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 33 of 34 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $103,135,532 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $98,819,790 across 20 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $153,582,895 assets, 21 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $122,929,635 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2022 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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