Eternal Seeds

Legal name: Eternal Seeds Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851699102
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
New Orleans, LA, US
Phone
504-252-0463
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,653,465
Expenses
$1,292,284
Assets
$3,899,715
Liabilities
$936,683

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Brandan Odums (President Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brandan Odums (President Executive Director): $71,150 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Eternal Seeds is a 501(c)3 organization founded by Brandan BMike Odums and the StudioBE team. We equip emerging artists with the tools to become leaders and visionaries for a more equitable and creative world. Our three-part model: Inspire, Educate, and Empower, guides our programs, workshops, exhibitions, and other offerings.

What it reported doing in 2025

Programming to Inspire - Eternal Seeds operates a 36,000 square foot art gallery and living museum called Studio BE. Studio BE serves as a cultural landmark that centers the voices and stories of the Black Experience and invites visitors and artists who havent traditionally felt welcome in art spaces. In addition to a permanent collection of art Eternal Seeds curates special exhibitions and provides guided tours for groups of students and adults.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.

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: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.2%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 60.4%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.8%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.02; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 60.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 42.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 61% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 12 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 47.2% of revenue deployed · 60.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $781K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.