Fifth Star Funds
Legal name: Fifth Star Funds Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 881382953
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 3127157453
- Rating
- 64
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $279,460
- Expenses
- $72,820
- Assets
- $886,812
- Liabilities
- $2,358
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Osayanmo Osarenkhoe (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Kyle Backer (Secretary & Treasurer): $38,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Fifth Star Funds invests in early-stage companies whose founders have faced material barriers to accessing capital due to racial discrimination. Continued Support Through educational resources provided by 1871 and a network of seasoned entrepreneurs, our investment is only the beginning of the support we provide our founders. Board of Directors. Through educational resources provided by 1871 and a network of seasoned entrepreneurs, our investment is only the beginning of the support we provide our founders. Board of Directors Kyle BackerKyle Backer. Fifth Star Funds is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We invest in early-stage companies whose founders have faced material barriers to accessing capital due to racial discrimination. While our research primarily addresses challenges faced by the Black community and the potential impact investment programs like ours could...
What it reported doing in 2025
Fifth Star Funds aims to foster a more equitable society by supporting a start-up ecosystem that is representative of today's world. We do this by reducing bias in the deal sourcing process, equalizing access to opportunity, allocating early-stage capital, providing network access, and delivering thoughtful support services that meet the needs of our founders.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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
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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 39
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 80
- Sustainability: 78
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 21.5%; rating input score 21
- Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
- 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 73.9%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.18; 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: 52.2%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -44.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -95.8% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 26.1% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 21.5% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $60K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $38K · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 21/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.