Novella Center for Entrepreneurship by Conscious Venture Lab Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
834583974
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Baltimore, MD, USA
Phone
4102795663
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$301,000
Expenses
$354,183
Assets
$110,812
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY CHERRY (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JEFFREY CHERRY (PRESIDENT)
  • JULIE LENZER (DIRECTOR)
  • L CONTENT MCLAUGHLIN (VP AND SECRE)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The corporation is formed and operated for the purpose of administering training programs that expose early stage founders, ceos and other executives to the tenets of stakeholder theory and conscious capitalism, and to the idea of using entrepreneurship as a tool for economic inclusion, growth, and wealth creation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cvl cohort baltimore 11: novella center for entrepreneurship administrered the 14-week cvl accelerator program in baltimore. Cohort 11 launched in march 2024 with 9 companies (4 women founders; 8 minority founders; 2 baltimore companies; 3 Maryland companies). Purpose of the program is to create partnerships and programming to train entrepreneurs how to build companies that matter by exposing them to the tenets of stakeholder theory and conscious capitalism and show them how managing a business for all of its stakeholders creates both societal and financial value.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 37
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 57%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 15th 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: -17.7%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 37.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 57% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $202K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $156K reported
  • Consistency: 16 of 17 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.