Erase the Space

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
825186828
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Columbus, OH, USA
Phone
6148931177
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Reported finances

Revenue
$286,702
Expenses
$231,585
Assets
$111,385
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

People named in this filing

  • NIDHI SATIANI (BOARD PRESID)
  • BRENDA JO BRUEGGEMANN (SECRETARY)
  • IMMACULATE ATEHNKENG (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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Erase the space facilitates year-long exchanges between students from racially, economically, and geographically divided school districts, building cross-community relationships and advancing educational equity across central Ohio. Through structured exchanges - beginning with written correspondence and culminating in collaborative in-person learning at neutral sites - students develop authentic cross-community relationships while engaging deeply with questions of justice, equity, and civic life.

What it reported doing in 2025

Classroom exchange program: erase the space's flagship program facilitates year-long exchanges between students from racially, economically, and geographically divided school districts across central Ohio. In 2025-26, the program served over 1,500 students across 30 exchanges in 14 districts. Each exchange follows a structured arc beginning with written correspondence between students, progressing through facilitated virtual sessions, and culminating in in-person collaborative learning at neutral sites. Exchanges are grounded in contact theory and critical pedagogy, guiding students through collective inquiry around social issues rather than surface-level interaction. The program is supported by a team of seven trained facilitators and operates as a signature outreach program in partnership with Ohio state university's college of arts & sciences.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 97% 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: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.1%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.2%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 42.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 54% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.1% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $158K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.