Plug In South Los Angeles Plug In Ventures

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873704348
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
9174768757
Rating
41
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$336,053
Expenses
$319,391
Assets
$34,128
Liabilities
$7,589

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Derek Smith (President & CEO)
  • Shawn Gunn (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Derek Smith (President & CEO): $97,066 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to enable and empower talented early-stage founders and entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities in and around Los Angeles and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, Plug In South Los Angeles provided entrepreneurial training, mentorship, and ecosystem support to over 500 founders and small business owners across Los Angeles County, with a concentrated focus on South Los Angeles. The organization delivered 312 hours of direct mentorship and counseling, conducted 30 training programs, workshops, and events serving more than 250 attendees, and facilitated 50 referrals to industry experts. Program focus areas included capital readiness, business model validation, financial development, and go-to-market strategy. Founders supported by the organization secured outcomes including 10 non-dilutive awards ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, $500,000 in SBIR/STTR funding across 5 awards, $5 million in equity investments, $250,000 in loans across 8 transactions, 120 jobs created, and 1 successful acquisition. The organization also established 15 resource partnerships across capital access, legal, HR, and operations to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in South Los Angeles.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 74% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 5
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 26
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 5.4%; rating input score 5
  • Program expense ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 6
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.4%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 5.4% of revenue deployed · 5.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $18K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $97K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 5/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.