Delaware Foundation for Science and Mathematics Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510371355
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Wilmington, DE, USA
Phone
3023970034
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$484,545
Expenses
$543,247
Assets
$53,056
Liabilities
$1,920

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR JON R MANON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR RANDOLPH J GUSCHL (EXECUTIVE DI): $72,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Dfsme's mission is to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education to prepare all Delaware students to be informed citizens and competitive in the global workforce.

What it reported doing in 2025

Student services - dfsme works with the Delaware department of education, the Delaware science coalition, and the career and technical education cadre to support high-quality stem education. Dfsme provides professional learning for educators aligned to the next generation science standards, common core, and cte pathways, and collaborates with community educators to promote consistency with state standards. In 2025, dfsme hosted stem connected day, bringing together educators and industry partners to strengthen cross-sector understanding of workforce needs and real-world stem applications. Approximately 300 educators purchased 500 tickets for morning and afternoon sessions, with an estimated 30,000 students benefiting from the experiences educators brought back to their classrooms. Dfsme supports stem educators through seed grants up to 5,000 for innovative, replicable projects and mini grants up to 500 for just-in-time classroom needs. Dfsme's recognition programs-including teacher, team, community, and lifetime achievement awards-promote educator retention. The shining light program provides seven monthly in-classroom awards during the school year, recognizing exemplary stem educators in front of their students. Dfsme engages students and supports educators through the air we share sustainability art contest, which provides environmental literacy resources to elementary teachers, and through monthly stem spot events across all three counties that connect educators with industry partners. During the year, dfsme concluded its multi-year national science foundation grant, completing all project activities and reporting requirements. Resources developed through the grant will continue to support statewide stem education efforts. Dfsme serves as fiscal agent for the Delaware stem council and million women mentors Delaware.

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 87% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 72.7%; rating input score 73; 49th 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; 64th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.1; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.7% of revenue deployed · 78.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $425K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 25 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.