The Venture Capital Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474114024
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028645920
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Small Business Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,292,039
Expenses
$1,518,424
Assets
$8,021,542
Liabilities
$1,606,240

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARYAM HAQUE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT BOBBY FRANKLIN (DIRECTOR): $1,537,680 total reported compensation
  • MARYAM HAQUE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $538,174 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Venture forward is a non-profit foundation with a mission to democratize access to the vc industry, empower individuals from all backgrounds and geographies to thrive as investors, and equip future vc leaders with the tools for long-term success. We support emerging fund managers and investors by providing education, mentorship, and resources to advance their careers. We are committed to driving healthy and sustainable generational change within established vc firms, ensuring strong industry stewardship for the future. Through these efforts, we envision a vc industry that reaches all communities across the country, unlocking greater innovation, economic impact, and financial returns.

What it reported doing in 2024

The foundation hosts the following flagship educational events: vc university is a foundational certificate course on venture finance, created in 2019 through the partnership of nvca, venture forward, and startup@berkeleylaw at the uc berkeley school of law. Venture forward co-led three cohorts in 2024 with a total of 966 participants.emerging manager office hours (previously lp office hours), is an opportunity for emerging vc fund managers from nontraditional backgrounds to have candid conversations with limited partners, experienced general partners, and industry advisors, at a curated, full-day event. Venture forward produced two programs in 2024, serving 47 emerging managers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.8%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 24th 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: -17.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.28; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 54.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.8% of revenue deployed · 79.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.5M · 14 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.