The Acceleration Project Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 460762002
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
- Location
- Scarsdale, NY, USA
- Phone
- 9142220354
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Business and Industry
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,727,645
- Expenses
- $2,480,851
- Assets
- $3,871,650
- Liabilities
- $427,580
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JANE VERON (PRESIDENT/CE)
Highest reported compensation
- JANE VERON (PRESIDENT/CE): $111,787 total reported compensation
- NATALIA ALARCON (CHIEF DEVELO): $87,500 total reported compensation
- TRACY JAFFE (CHIEF GROWTH): $87,057 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To unlock pathways to wealth creation and economic mobility by accelerating under-resourced small businesses through high impact, customized support in strategy, operations, finance and marketing.
What it reported doing in 2025
Strategic & customized advisory services tap's strategic & customized advisory services are designed to address acute small business challenges and fill ecosystem-level technical assistance gaps. Often deployed in partnership with community partners or funders, these engagements range from focused workshops, to a series of one-on-one advisory sessions, to a multi-week deep dive program, or a combination therein. The deep dive is tap's flagship program that pairs small business owners with a team of advisors over a 12-week period. The program includes tailored action plans, business tools, and structured follow-up. The deep dive is tap's highest-impact intervention - participating businesses have yielded a 94% business survival rate, 86% grown or sustained revenues, and 91% grown or sustained employee bases, within 12-months post-program.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 76% 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 54
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 57.9%; rating input score 58
- Program expense ratio: 61%; rating input score 61
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.56; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.9%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 27% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 28% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 57.9% of revenue deployed · 61% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 19 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $211K reported
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.