Engineer Early Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833719414
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Dover, DE, USA
Phone
3027292850
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$226,148
Expenses
$25,627
Assets
$315,615
Liabilities
$834

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kristen Melendez (Co-Executive Director)
  • Milton Melendez (Co-Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Naa-Atswei Tetteh (Chair - Treasurer)
  • Michael Fleming (Vice-Chair - Secretary)
  • Kristen Melendez (Co-Executive Director)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of Engineer Early is to set the gears of wonder in motion for early learners through the power of STEM. Our outreach provides learning opportunities and educational resources for pre-school elementary and middle school students.

What it reported doing in 2025

Comprehensive STEM outreach to pre-school elementary and middle school students in partnership with Delaware Public Libraries through STEM Kits STEM Centers and 3D Design and Printing Workshops.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 92% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 32
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 10.7%; rating input score 11
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 88.7%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.32; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 55.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 92.9% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 10.7% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $20K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 11/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.