Inspire Innovation Lab

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
470973679
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Moorhead, MN, USA
Phone
2184771370
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$400,645
Expenses
$416,770
Assets
$17,637
Liabilities
$16,636

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • RUTH BUFFALO (BOARD MEMBER)
  • LILLIAN JONES (BOARD MEMBER)
  • CARRIE LEOPOLD (PRES/BOARD C)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide professional development, student programming, and innovative learning experiences for teachers, students and the community in an effort to achieve widespread educational impact with a focus toward the empowerment of underrepresented groups.

What it reported doing in 2023

Develop and provide stem educational resources and stem continuing education to instructors, develop and implement stem, entrepreneurial, and art educational programs and support to primary and secondary students, develop and implement stem, entrepreneurial, and art educational programs to the community, and foster a network of community businesses seeking to provide volunteer, financial, and mentoring assets to increase stem entrepreneurial and art fluency within the educational milieu of the region.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.4%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.04; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.94; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.5% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.4% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $378K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2021 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.