Entrepreneur Startup Business Development Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274875945
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011, Form 990-N 2010
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3142724857
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,398,892
Expenses
$3,395,422
Assets
$25,915,538
Liabilities
$1,568,852

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH ZUCKER (PRESIDENT)
  • GABRIEL ANGIERI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • GABRIEL ANGIERI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $204,859 total reported compensation
  • ALFRED JACKSON (DIRECTOR OF PORTFOLIO): $121,297 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Arch grants advances economic development and community revitalization by providing equity-free grants of up to $100,000 and dynamic wraparound support to startup entrepreneurs willing to headquarter their businesses in st. Louis. Arch grants conducts a rigorously competitive annual startup competition to retain and attract the best innovators to st. Louis. This program is an aggressive effort to increase entrepreneurial activity in st. Louis to seed the next generation of employers, civic leaders, and philanthropists in st. Louis.

What it reported doing in 2024

Grant program - fulfilling the mission of arch grants through the provision of financial and other assistance through the primary means of competitive grant programs, the purposes of which are to compensate for the lack of access to adequate sources of capital, to develop entrepreneurs in startup businesses in the city of st. Louis, create jobs, combat blight, and create community development. During 2024, 19 new grants were awarded inclusive of 6 relocation grants through the annual startup competition (19 full $75,000 awards and 6 relocation grants of $25,000), in addition to 3 follow-on grants to previously funded companies through a new growth grants program (3 full $100,000 awards). (see schedule o)as of december 31, 2024, arch grants has awarded $18.7 million in grants to 272 companies. Since the launch in 2012, several thousand applications have been received from around the world, including applications from 49 states and 93 countries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 66% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.8%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 99; 39th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.1%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.63; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.3% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.8% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $205K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 26 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 24 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.