Dream Builders 4 Equity
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 814402678
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
- Location
- St Louis, MO, USA
- Phone
- 3144975609
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development - Business
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,206,460
- Expenses
- $1,359,041
- Assets
- $1,128,118
- Liabilities
- $66,397
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHAEL WOODS (President & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHAEL WOODS (President & CEO): $100,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Dream Builders 4 Equity (DB4E) is working to develop economically sustainable and socially engaged communities by growing equity for youth, businesses, residents, and real estate.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Summer Build Academy is an eight-week program at the heart of DB4E's youth-driven community transformation. It equips participants aged 16-24 with essential tools, resources, and support, enabling them to thrive and lead in various aspects of life. Throughout the summer, participants engage in community development projects and reflect on their experiences in journals. Their writings are published in a book, with proceeds directly benefiting the youth. After completing the academy, participants are paired with mentors and have opportunities to earn money through property rehabilitation and teaching chess. They also take part in monthly events and have access to free therapy. In 2024, a total of 46 young people completed the Summer Build Academy, collectively investing 9,247 hours in transforming themselves and the Hyde Park community. Graduates from this program serve as chess coaches through our Black Squares Chess initiative, now active in six schools in partnership with Soul Fishers Ministry, where they teach chess to children from kindergarten to eighth grade. Remarkably, 96% of our program participants have achieved significant outcomes, including gainful employment, high school graduation, college enrollment, and successful college graduation, with many currently on track to graduate from high school.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 79% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.8%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 64.8%; rating input score 65
- Fundraising efficiency: $30.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -12.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.83; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.4%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 27.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 29.9% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 34.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.8% of revenue deployed · 64.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $880K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 6 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $139K reported
- Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.