Make Nashville

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474075711
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6152943258
Rating
54
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Engineering and Technology

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$569,405
Expenses
$387,131
Assets
$393,379
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steve Roche (President)

People named in this filing

  • Steve Roche (President)
  • Joel Lindsey (Treasurer)
  • John Haubenreich (Secretary)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our purpose is to provide the community, training, tools, and opportunity for everyone to experience the transformative experience of making. We want to help more people make, and to help makers make more.

What it reported doing in 2025

We provided a safe space for people from all backgrounds to come and learn how to express themselves creatively. We offered training to hundreds of individuals of all age groups. Make Nashville provided a 12,000 square-foot makerspace where members from all backgrounds worked on hobbies, made repairs, and expressed themselves creatively. Over 500 members had access to a variety of creative facilities including our ceramics, woodworking, and metalworking shops, 3D and CNC printing, an auto shop, a photography dark rooms, and spaces for electronics, sewing and crafts. 24-hour access, an open floor plan, and a strong community spirit allowed Make Nashville members to work and learn at their own pace while also collaborating with peers and experts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 99% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 36
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.1%; rating input score 34
  • Program expense ratio: 50.2%; rating input score 50
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.02; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34.8% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.1% of revenue deployed · 50.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $194K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.