Connectup Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
852918250
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6515059438
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Reported finances

Revenue
$638,171
Expenses
$529,780
Assets
$785,263
Liabilities
$203,497

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Y Elaine Rasmussen (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Y Elaine Rasmussen (President): $81,302 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 ConnectUP! Integrated Capital Fund ICF is a charitable fund that addresses the gap in access to $70M capital resources and networks to increase local BIPOC ownership of businesses in the Twin Cities Metro area. ICF provides early second-stage entrepreneurs with flexible and patient hybrid capital grants debt equity fractional executive FTE support and mindset coaching. ICF disrupts the traditional capitalist credit system which has failed Black and Brown entrepreneurs and is the ONLY woman-led fund driven by economic justice with wealth creation and restorative finance as its core values. -CEO Circles are small group learning sessions on a specific business topic facilitated by a culturally responsive subject matter expert. In each circle founders come together in working sessions to hack their most pressing business issues build fellowship and leverage collective wisdom. -The LevelUP! Digital Platform provides culturally grounded courses and toolkits

What it reported doing in 2024

Capital Readiness provides training and and coaches to prepare entrepreneurs to be ready to access capital in the marketplace. Training includes business operations accounting and financial operations and marketing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 65%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: Limited
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 17%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.48; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54% of revenue deployed · 65% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $344K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.