Ferris Wheel Innovation Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 815434313
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Flint, MI, USA
- Phone
- 8102134720
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Continuing Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,883,724
- Expenses
- $1,732,345
- Assets
- $338,301
- Liabilities
- $251,482
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID OLLILA (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- TAMASHA HARROLD (DIRECTOR OF): $129,862 total reported compensation
- BRANDEE COOKE-BROWN (EXECUTIVE DI): $98,844 total reported compensation
- JENNIFER HICKMOTT (DIRECTOR OF): $85,126 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Housed in flint, Michigan, we are a non-profit with a mission to relieve the innovator of the entrepreneurial burden. We know entrepreneurship can be difficult, and that's why we're here to help. As a community of student professionals, lead by a dynamic leadership team, we vet entrepreneurial ideas to provide a helping hand in business development to anyone regardless of their prior experience or background.
What it reported doing in 2025
Ferris wheel innovation center program is designed to foster interest in s.t.e.a.m. (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) by providing experimental education and practical training to students as they are guided in aiding inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs in bringing products from concept to market, and to promote economic stability in flint, Michigan through innovation and entrepreneurism.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 66.8%; rating input score 67
- Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $47.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
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: 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.74; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.1%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -10.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 66.8% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.