Edison Universe Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452703444
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Fort Meyers, FL, USA
Phone
7085860004
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$389,683
Expenses
$455,132
Assets
$1,330,062
Liabilities
$9,997

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRANK BONAFILIA (President)
  • ROBIN MANES (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • FRANK BONAFILIA (President)
  • ROBIN MANES (Vice President)
  • FRANK BONAFILIA (Treasurer)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Edison Universe is dedicated to fostering, nurturing, developing and sponsoring curriculum, educational programs, events, media assets, etc. in support of innovation and innovators.As part of the mission listed above. Edison Universe has partnered with The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program. There mission is to provide special access and mentorship to an exceptional small group of visionary innovators.The Latimer Fellowhsip Program's website is Latimer.com.

What it reported doing in 2024

Current activities include the development of an on line portal that will promote and provide access to a vast library of learning resources made available by companies and organizations who are winners in an annual innovation awards program called Edison Awards. This content-rich resource will be promoted to K-12 educators and others who wish to instill curiosity and innovative thinking among their students. In addition, Edison Universe will solicit involvement of these same corporate partners to engage in hands-on learning activities, mentoring programs and other opportunities to bridge industry with these students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.

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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.3%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.92; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.3% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $379K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.