Business Education Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842969730
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
North Bethesda, MD, USA
Phone
3019650280
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$700,286
Expenses
$1,046,891
Assets
$954,655
Liabilities
$15,317

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD TRENT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SINCE APRIL 2024)
  • CHANDA CAUSER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL FEBRUARY 2024)
  • DAVID BORRIS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD TRENT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SINCE APRIL 2024): $136,166 total reported compensation
  • CHRIS COLLINS (HIGHEST COMPENSATED EMPLOYEE): $117,997 total reported compensation
  • CHANDA CAUSER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL FEBRUARY 2024): $30,669 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Business education fund supports its flagship project, main street alliance, to: ensure authentic small business owners themselves are part of defining the problem and informing policy solutions so that the needs of even the smallest and least connected businesses are heard; recruit and support small business owners to share powerful stories to highlight the real needs of small business; and shift the narrative - in the media, with decision-makers, and within more mainstream business groups - about priorities for main street small business economy.

What it reported doing in 2024

Main street alliance: business education fund dba main street alliance continues to train and develop small business owners on issues that impact local economies and their communities in order to advance local economies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98%; rating input score 98; 46th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -49.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.91; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -13.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -37.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -12.5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $861K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $136K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.