AltFinance
Legal name: Alt Finance Corporation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 863974526
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Phone
- 9196990778
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Leadership Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,458,011
- Expenses
- $9,223,111
- Assets
- $14,068,910
- Liabilities
- $622,696
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARCUS SHAW (PRESIDENT AND C.E.O.)
Highest reported compensation
- MARCUS SHAW (PRESIDENT AND C.E.O.): $445,000 total reported compensation
- RACHEL WARD (V-P, PROGRAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS): $189,276 total reported compensation
- LESLIE ESPY (V-P, STRATEGY AND OPERATION): $179,863 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
AltFinance is building and expanding pathways for HBCU students to careers in alternative investment management.
What it reported doing in 2024
The lamplighter series is a regional salon initiative designed to connect altfinance's ecosystem of hbcu's, partner firms, and industry leaders while elevating awareness of altfinance's mission. Each event serves as an intimate, high-impact gathering to showcase advisory board members, engage lp's, and strengthen relationships across regions. These smaller, curated events are tailored to each location's community and alumni presence, featuring hbcu presidents, firm leaders, and other influential voices as speakers. The format encourages meaningful networking and thought leadership.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 83
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.5%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $445K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $4M reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 6 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.