MakerUSA

Legal name: Makerusa Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873810812
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
4125924729
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$470,009
Expenses
$258,787
Assets
$306,620
Liabilities
$863

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEPHANIE SANTOSO (CO-FOUNDER AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHANIE SANTOSO (CO-FOUNDER AND CEO): $84,462 total reported compensation
  • COLIN LACY (CO FOUNDER AND CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER): $42,355 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To expand leadership in community-driven innovation and social mobility by advancing maker education, entrepreneurship, and innovation through a network of Innovation Sites and Program Managers.

What it reported doing in 2025

General program: general program focus on the development and sustainability of the makerusa learning network, a national community of practice composed of 30+ leading institutions and organizations to share their work and learnings, and collaborate on shared challenges related to maker education and inclusive makerspaces.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 36.5%; rating input score 37
  • Program expense ratio: 66.3%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 44.9%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 49%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -54.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -16% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 85.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 36.5% of revenue deployed · 66.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $172K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $84K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.