Bridgemakers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
854214217
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6124469138
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$329,384
Expenses
$695,575
Assets
$89,925
Liabilities
$9,907

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WALTER CORTINA MARTINEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • WALTER CORTINA MARTINEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $55,905 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bridgemakers is a movement of young professionals, entrepreneurs, community organizers and leaders ages 14-30 dedicated to making positive community change. Bridgemakers supports at-risk and opportunity youth with building a sense of belonging, purpose and leadership while learning practical skills through real-world application. We operate through our bridgemakers leadership academy (bla) programming and a series of community building that include the innovators' exchange, exhibition of youth excellence, and young bosses ball.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community engagement & youth development initiatives: bridgemakers conducts regular convenings and maintains a presence at other community events to strengthen peer networks, expand access to programming, and connect young people to leadership and economic opportunities.during the year, the organization hosted the youth excellence expo, convening 232 community members to celebrate and showcase the work of young entrepreneurs, artists, and organizers. The event featured a youth-led fashion show with emerging clothing designers, a panel of young entrepreneurs, and an exhibition space highlighting youth-led businesses and nonprofit organizations. The expo also included the inaugural youth excellence awards, where three individualsone entrepreneur, one organizer, and one artistwere recognized based on nominations from peers and community members.the organization also launched the innovators' exchange, a recurring networking event for young entrepreneurs and professionals ages 1830. A total of 5 events were held, engaging approximately 115 participants. These events provided structured opportunities for participants to build professional relationships, develop skills, and advance their collective and individual goals together. The series facilitated several collaborations in business.in addition to formal programming, bridgemakers maintained an active presence in the community through participation in various community events. Staff and program participants engaged directly with young people to identify emerging leaders and connect them to our own and other organizational programming and resources. This strengthens the overall mn ecosystem of young leaders as well as driving our own program and event participation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 67% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.6%; rating input score 96; 55th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -111.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.13; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $586K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.