Team NEO Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341885407
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone
2163635400
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,558,371
Expenses
$7,736,932
Assets
$4,898,583
Liabilities
$2,026,872

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

Leadership & pay

65 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Matt Dolan (CEO starting 2/2025)
  • William Koehler (CEO thru 2/2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • Matt Dolan (CEO starting 2/2025): $327,131 total reported compensation
  • Christine Nelson (VP, Project Mgt, Site Strategies & Talent): $229,615 total reported compensation
  • Jacob Duritsky (VP, Strategy and Research): $212,136 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Team NEO Foundation enhances the economy of Northeast Ohio by collaborating with our partners and others to attract new businesses, help those that are here grow and accelerate the impact of innovation in the region. We also help bring together local, regional and state resources to raise the profile of the region and make the case of investment in Northeast Ohio, focusing on proven businesses that will contribute to the regions success. Our Board serves as the Regional Table for Business and Philanthropy around which challenges regarding economic competitiveness are identified, prioritized and advanced.

What it reported doing in 2025

Growing our Diverse Industry Base - Leverage our deep supply chain and partner relationships across the regions diverse industry base to drive innovation, integrate technology, develop new markets and create equitable opportunity for a highly-trained workforce.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 9.6%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.63; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.4% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 36 of 36 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $327K · 65 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $193K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.