Venn Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814476503
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6125683204
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,842,464
Expenses
$1,685,264
Assets
$29,413,154
Liabilities
$1,546,345

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFF OCHS (PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFF OCHS (PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR): $114,700 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 unleash the full power of program-related investments to achieve charitable impact.

What it reported doing in 2025

Venn foundation (venn) is a nonprofit public charity on a mission to unleash the full power of program-related investments (pris) to advance charitable impact. By opening a donor-advised fund called a "venn account," any individual or organization can recommend that their charitable dollars be used by venn to make pris. Venn can syndicate any one pri among any number of venn accounts. Financial returns from these pris go back to participating accounts pro rata for the donors to recommend redeployment into new pris or grants. Our vision is to create a new category of flexible, below-market-rate capital that can be directed creatively to projects and organizations across all sectors that are helping advance charitable goals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.
  • 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 13.2%; rating input score 13
  • Program expense ratio: 88.1%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $179.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 17th 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: 85.8%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 17.45; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 13.2% of revenue deployed · 88.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $115K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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: Mission deployment rate scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.