PAGE 3: Columbia students estimate costs
PAGE 13: Red Line shooting during rush hour shakes passengers
PAGE 10: Editorial: Columbia should ban the box for prospective students PAGE 14: Remote psychiatry helps increase access to mental health care Volume 54, Issue 14
December 10, 2018
ColumbiaChronicle.com
» ARIANA PORTALATIN & BLAISE MESA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & MANAGING EDITOR COLUMBIA REVENUE WAS on the rise in the 2016 reporting year, but so were the college’s personnel costs. Columbia reported higher revenue and net assets for its 2016-2017 fiscal year, according to recently-released IRS 990 tax forms, but the gains came with a decrease
in contributions and grants and bigger payments for administrative compensation. The 990 tax forms, an annual document completed by nonprofit organizations and institutions, are released to the public 18 months after they are filed. The forms were released in November and contain information from the 2016–2017 fiscal year, such as contributions and grants, total revenue, assets and administrative compensation.
CONTRIBUTIONS AND GRANTS: Contributions and grants dropped about $1.2 million—to $5.6 million—for the 20162017 fiscal year. The drop represents a 17 percent decrease from the $6.8 million the college received the prior year. David Bea, principal and manager at Bea and Vandenberk Law Office and expert in nonprofit tax law, said contribution gaps are not uncommon after turnover in the development department. “You are always having to renew your donor base,” Bea said. Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Shawn Wax joined Columbia in 2017 and was not at the college during the decrease in contributions and grants. He said fundraising numbers will decrease the following year as well. Wax said the report on contributions and grants will be bleaker next fiscal year because the programs he has put into place will not yield results for several years. Wax also noted that alumni participation—the percentage of a college’s alumni base that makes donations—was less than one percent. At a private institution, alumni participation is usually between 25—50 percent. Wax said asking for donations from specific departments has been successful. In the past year—not yet reported to the IRS—his fundraisers got contributions and grants back to approximately $6 million. “There was no one here to see folks,” Wax said. “Now we have a full staff and a full team, and every time we go see people and have a conversation about Columbia, the response is overwhelmingly positive and
people are making donations.” Wax made it a goal for fundraisers who find potential donors to make 14 face-to-face meetings or visits every month. Wax would also like to try to include students in the fundraising initiative but does not yet know how he could do that. He said his previous work at the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa was successful, and he is eager to explore similar ideas at Columbia. “Fundraising is a relationship business, and it takes time to establish and build a relationship,” Wax said. TOTAL REVENUE AND EXPENSES: Total revenue at the college increased $25 million—to $275,842,222—for the 20162017 fiscal year, including an approximate $40 million increase in non-tuition revenue reported as “other revenue.” Senior Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO Jerry Tarrer said the substantial increase in other revenue was mostly from the sale of the University Center. Tarrer also attributed the increase in assets to growth in investments. Net assets or fund balances increased about $64 million—to $360,026,663—for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. Bea interpreted the asset report as a positive sign. “If you look at the assets, things look healthy,” he said. “The managers are doing a good job.” The college reported an increase in assets and net income and a decrease in liabilities and expenses. Total expenses dropped about $4 million to $236,773,481. During the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the college employed 4,075 people, 21 fewer than the prior year. “We did what we could to contain costs,” Tarrer said. “There’s always conversations about how we’re spending the money and if there are opportunities to more wisely use those resources.”
SEE 990S, PAGE 5
» SAMANTHA CONRAD/CHRONICLE
Tax forms: Salaries and revenue increase, contributions decrease