Fundamental Needs Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853603760
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Cortez, CO, USA
Phone
3258290949
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$639,347
Expenses
$494,891
Assets
$353,858
Liabilities
$53,576

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Justice Ramos (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Justice Ramos (Executive Director): $49,313 total reported compensation
  • Jennie Ramos (Board Chairwoman and PM): $25,000 total reported compensation
  • Kashon Harrison (Board member and New Mexico PM): $18,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At Fundamental Needs we partner with underserved communities in the United States to address critical gaps in access to clean drinking water electricity education and vocational opportunities. By combining community-led approaches with practical solutions we empower individuals and families to overcome systemic barriers and create lasting change.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Cortez Makerspace is an initiative designed to provide technical training workforce development and business support for entrepreneurs students and community members. While the full makerspace is awaiting funding and a permanent location Fundamental Needs has actively worked to develop partnerships programming and workforce development opportunities in preparation for its future launch. In 2024 Fundamental Needs hosted the Start. Scale. Pitch! three-part entrepreneurship workshop series? which introduced core business and financial skills critical to future makerspace programming. The series included: Unique Value Proposition April 2 2024: Helping participants identify community needs and develop business ideas with a sustainable advantage. Finance and Profitability April 9 2024: Covering financial literacy smart investments and negotiation strategies. Creating a Pitch Deck April 16 2024: Teaching participants how to build a compelling pitch deck and polish their presentation skills. Beyond these workshops Fundamental Needs has been developing workforce training programs for the makerspace which will include: Technical training in 3D printing CNC machining and laser cutting. Workshops on product development branding and small business operations. Collaborations with Fort Lewis College Pueblo Community College and local businesses to offer certifications and hands-on learning opportunities. While the full project is still in development these efforts have helped build momentum establish key partnerships and ensure that workforce training remains a priority for the makerspaces long-term success.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.6%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 40.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.5% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.4% of revenue deployed · 87.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $431K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $49K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.