Innovation Fund America
Legal name: Innovation Fund America Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 461761848
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Elyria, OH, US
- Phone
- (440) 366-4121
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Economic Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $50,000
- Expenses
- $1,792,775
- Assets
- $68,071
- Liabilities
- $7,447,854
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DR ROY A CHURCH (PRESIDENT & CHAIR)
- DR MARCIA J BALLINGER (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JOSEPH MARTIN (TREASURER): $15,583 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Innovation Fund is a nonprofit that helps technology startups accelerate their growth through early-stage funding and education.
What it reported doing in 2024
Innovation fund america inc. ("ifa inc.") aspires to develop and administer activities and programs designed to educate students and entrepreneurs, combat community deterioration, relieve poverty, and lessen the burdens of the government through stimulating economic development in select communities across the united states ("ifa communities"). It accomplishes this through creating an entrepreneurial climate that fosters, creates and expands employment opportunities in those communities through the recruitment and education of organizations and entrepreneurs working with related enterprises within those communities. Ifa inc. Provides assistance in the funding of and undertaking activities which will lessen the burdens of government in relation to the development of entrepreneurial enterprises in ifa communities in conjunction with private and public investments and contributions by philanthropic organizations and federal, state, and local governments. Ifa inc. Provides appropriate counsel or assistance in advisory services which will promote and nurture the formation and development of entrepreneurial businesses and capacity in ifa communities and promoting the welfare of ifa communities by serving as a national leader for innovation, education, and training in entrepreneurial business.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 96% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 6
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 99.9%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3,485.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.04; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 109.41; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 46.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -30.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $16K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 16 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.