Duluth Makerspace

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823371520
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Duluth, MN, USA
Phone
2184819200
Rating
46
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$97,489
Expenses
$97,063
Assets
$59,941

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mike Olson (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Jesse Ferguson (Secretary)
  • Alyssa Friesen (Treasurer)
  • Maxwell Elfelt (Board Chair)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

We are a Cooperative Workshop, run like a fitness gym, where a monthly membership pays for shared access to tech tools, electronics, woodshop, metalshop, techshop, crafts, classrooms, fabrics, etc! Similar places have been sprouting up across the country. They are a real community asset driving innovation, education and cooperation. Our biggest asset is the other members.

What it reported doing in 2025

Pottery Studio

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 17
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 16.6%; rating input score 17
  • Program expense ratio: 16.6%; rating input score 17

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.8% per year; rating input score 0; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 16.6% of revenue deployed · 16.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $16K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 17/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.