Biobus Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 262092282
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 6465809444
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Hospitals and Related Primary Medical Care Facilities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,954,759
- Expenses
- $4,746,539
- Assets
- $3,824,307
- Liabilities
- $159,042
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KEITH FOSTER (PRESIDENT)
- BENJAMIN J DUBIN-THALER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- BENJAMIN J DUBIN-THALER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $163,662 total reported compensation
- LATASHA WRIGHT (CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER): $154,648 total reported compensation
- SASHA CHAIT (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $133,765 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization's mission is to help minority, female, and low-income k-12 and college students in New York city discover, explore, and pursue science. Through this work, we envision a world where all people have the opportunity to reach their full scientific potential.
What it reported doing in 2024
Biobus offers the highest-quality science education to students in marginalized communities. Our two mobile science labs carry state-of-the-art microscopes across the nyc metropolitan area while our community science laboratories serve harlem, the south bronx, and lower east side. Trained scientists employ innovative curricula, scientific mentorship, and laboratory research projects to develop students' identities as scientists and build inclusive communities of science practice that provide students a pathway to long-term scientific pursuits.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 92.5%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 77%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: 90.7%; rating input score 91; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -20%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 92.5% of revenue deployed · 77% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 15 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $116K reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.