VentureWell
Legal name: National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 421727335
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Hadley, MA, USA
- Phone
- (413) 587-2172
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $106,240,932
- Expenses
- $105,304,649
- Assets
- $89,478,799
- Liabilities
- $53,118,211
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Philip Weilerstein (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Philip Weilerstein (President): $456,079 total reported compensation
- Mark Marino (VP, Growth Strategy & Deve): $293,368 total reported compensation
- Christopher Desrosiers (VP, Finance & Administrati): $288,978 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
VentureWell cultivates a pipeline of inventors and entrepreneurs who bring science and technology innovations to life.
What it reported doing in 2024
In addition to the 3 grants programs outlined on lines 4a through 4c, NCIIA also: a) awards other types of grants primarily to institutions of higher education in keeping with the organization's mission of promoting invention, innovation and entrepreneurship; b) offers membership to colleges and universities across the U.S., which afford member institutions the opportunity to attend NCIIA-sponsored events at reduced rates, tap into the NCIIA network, and to apply for NCIIA grants; c) conducts workshops and events, including but not limited to an annual conference and workshops designed to teach technology entrepreneurship basics and how to enhance success of commercializing inventions and innovations; and d) invests in select ventures emerging from U.S institutions of higher education.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 78
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.8%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.3%; rating input score 99; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.59; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 11 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 5 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 85.8% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $92.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $456K · 23 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $23.7M reported
- Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 77 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 69 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.