The Variis Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833556327
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Ypsilanti, MI, USA
Phone
7345895425
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Vocational, Technical Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,000
Expenses
$10,000
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Frank Norton (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Andrea Pisani (President)

People named in this filing

  • Frank Norton (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Andrea Pisani (President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Variis Institute(501c(3)) works to empower todays youth with the skills of tomorrow by providing integrated, project-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and exploratory learning experiences in an engaging environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Over the course of the past year and our final year, our nonprofit organization has committed to enhancing the quality of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education for students. We take pride in listing our significant achievements in line with this objective for this tax year: STEM Curriculum: We provided lesson plans and projects for STEM classrooms.Student Events: We provided technical support assistance, repair parts, and teacher support training for drone education and a student centered drone competition in Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.6% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -41% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -52.8% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 10 of 10 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.