Project Echo
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 954580212
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2013–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Santa Monica, CA, USA
- Phone
- 3102518636
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $26,240
- Expenses
- $141,263
- Assets
- $149,241
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DIANE QUAST (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
People named in this filing
- LEE FOX (BOARD CHAIR)
- JEFFREY KRAVITZ (SECRETARY & TREASURER)
- DIANE QUAST (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Mission: project echo empowers students with entrepreneurial and leadership skills so that they can thrive in college, their careers and in their community as change-makers.vision: project echo's unique model of hands-on entrepreneurship learning gives students and teachers an opportunity to tie-in industry-sector themes while linking their learning to solving real-world problems.goals: 1. To provide our students with interdisciplinary project-based learning to develop entrepreneurial, business and life skills.2. To provide our students a competitive edge for college entrance and career development.3. To provide positive role models to our students through community based mentorship, inclusive of mba students through exectuive volunteers.4. To increase awareness among our students, the public, and the private sectors of entrepreneurial and vocational opportunities.5. To build networks/alliances between our students and their communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Project echo enrolled 383 high school students from 34 schools in a classroom-based introduction to entrepreneurship. Students worked individually and in teams through a structured curriculum that guided them from idea generation to the final development of a formal written business plan and investor pitch. Each student team identified a community-based problem and designed an innovative product or service to address it. From these, 223 students (59 teams) advanced to project echo's teen entrepreneurs' business plan competition, hosted on campus of csu dominguez hills. About 65 volunteer judges reviewed and evaluated written business plans (220 volunteer hours), and an additional 30 judges contributed 240 hours evaluating live (in person or virtually on zoom) student presentations. Through these efforts, more than $9,000 in scholarships were awarded to 10 winning teams.project echo operates on a cost-sharing model, charging programs approximately 50% of the actual program cost and securing philanthropic support and sponsorships to cover the remainder. This approach ensures equitable access, allowing all participating students the opportunity to learn, compete, and succeed through hands-on entrepreneurial education.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 24
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 22.1%; rating input score 22
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -438.3%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 41.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 22.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $31K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2013 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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: Program expense ratio scored 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.