Fund for Our Economic Future of Northeast Ohio

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270606927
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone
2164569800
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,002,536
Expenses
$2,907,632
Assets
$6,124,336
Liabilities
$109,516

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BETHIA CULLIS BURKE (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • BETHIA CULLIS BURKE (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $331,966 total reported compensation
  • JOAN CHASE (SR. DIR. OF STRAT. INIT.): $211,941 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL MARKS GRAY (DIRECTOR POWERUP): $197,622 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The fund for our economic future is a creative space for philanthropic funders and civic leaders to explore what matters and implement what works to achieve equitable economic growth, emphasizing systemic, long-term change.

What it reported doing in 2025

See schedule othe fund's strategy is to advance economic growth and equitable access to opportunity for the people of northeast Ohio by articulating and advancing a regional agenda, empowering a leadership network and developing strategic funding to organizations which show the greatest potential for advancing growth and opportunity within the 18-county northeast Ohio region.the focus is on four charitable priorities:- job creation (add jobs, combat community deterioration).- job preparation (skill building for employment, improvements in the quality of jobs).- job access (reducing geographic barriers between people and jobs by bringing jobs closer to people and people closer to jobs).- systemic racial inclusion (add jobs, connect people to jobs, eliminate neighborhood tension).

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 69.8%; rating input score 70; 24th 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: 3.2%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.11; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.7%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.1% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $332K · 32 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $247K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.