Inceptia

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
920907062
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lincoln, NE, US
Phone
4024796623
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,232,361
Expenses
$16,860,812
Assets
$279,238,403
Liabilities
$2,207,601

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID A MACOUBRIE (CEO/PRESIDENT)
  • RANDALL SCOTT HEESACKER (FORMER CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • RANDALL SCOTT HEESACKER (FORMER CEO): $426,408 total reported compensation
  • DAVID A MACOUBRIE (CEO/PRESIDENT): $421,639 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL JAY LUBBEN (SVP BUSINESS DEV. (THRU 04/24)): $398,480 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Inceptia partners with schools and other organizations to help college students and their families achieve the dream of higher education and pursue a lifetime of success.

What it reported doing in 2024

Inceptia provides financial literacy education to secondary and higher education students and their families via an online interactive platform; assists students and parents in completing the fafsa verification process; counsels students who have not completed a degree to encourage re-enrollment and degree completion; and advises student loan borrowers on their repayment obligations and provide information on title iv repayment plan options.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 68.3%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.5%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.56; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 46.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -107.1% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 99% of revenue deployed · 68.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $426K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $376K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.