Biostl

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452137574
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3148808875
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,847,401
Expenses
$13,913,345
Assets
$19,099,418
Liabilities
$5,264,884

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DONN RUBIN (PRESIDENT, SECRETARY, TREASURER)
  • CRYSTAL WINKELER (VICE PRESIDENT OF BIOGENERATOR)
  • MIKE HIGGINS (VICE PRESIDENT, DEVELOPMENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DONN RUBIN (PRESIDENT, SECRETARY, TREASURER): $754,162 total reported compensation
  • CRYSTAL WINKELER (VICE PRESIDENT OF BIOGENERATOR): $369,972 total reported compensation
  • VIJAY CHAUHAN (GLOBALSTL LEAD): $351,486 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Biostl advances st. Louis' prosperity by cultivating a thriving bioscience sector. Biostl builds regional capacity, nurtures a collaborative environment, and focuses community leadership and resources to capitalize on the unique convergence of st. Louis' corporate, university, and entrepreneurial strengths in medical and plant bioscience.

What it reported doing in 2024

Company creation and attraction: funding and support to organizations and entrepreneurs/founders in the fields of biotechnology, life sciences, healthcare, and other technologies where the st. Louis community has strengths. This includes assisting organizations that help build successful, sustainable biosciences companies located in st. Louis city and the surrounding community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Assets have declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.3%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 88.3%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $32.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • 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: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 39th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.3% of revenue deployed · 88.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $12.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $754K · 19 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $469K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.