Project Innerspace Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873285334
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
2126971000
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,114,948
Expenses
$11,312,084
Assets
$17,786,701
Liabilities
$1,285,542

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMIE BEARD (FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MICHELE SINGER (VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS & GENERAL COUNSEL)
  • DREW NELSON (VICE PRESIDENT, PROGRAMS, POLICY & STRATEGY)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMIE BEARD (FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $505,260 total reported compensation
  • MICHELE SINGER (VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS & GENERAL COUNSEL): $221,236 total reported compensation
  • ROGER ASTON TEAGUE (DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION & GROWTH): $186,735 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

Outreach/geothermal house - project innerspace builds the social license of geothermal around the world through unique events that highlight geothermal as the super-hot future of energy and launch conversations that help overcome a polarized energy landscape. Our flagship "geothermal house" concept blends art and science into an immersive educational experience with broad appeal, featuring our newly developed "journey to the center of the earth" geothermal vr experience, geomap demonstrations, innovation showcases, and other activities. In 2024 and 2025, project innerspace hosted geothermal houses in New York city, austin, Texas, san francisco, Washington d.c., davos, switzerland, and nairobi, kenya.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 44.2%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $53.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.7%; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: 51.1%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.57; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 101.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 101.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 109.1% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 44.2% of revenue deployed · 87.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $9.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $505K · 8 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.