Venture for America Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272987904
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Phone
6467366460
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Economic Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,498,672
Expenses
$2,197,983
Assets
$2,316,836
Liabilities
$1,440,870

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIC SOMERVILLE (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH PARK (CFO): $116,959 total reported compensation
  • ERIC SOMERVILLE (CEO): $59,257 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 for america's mission is to responsibly steward its remaining resources while supporting the transition, administrative close-out, and long-term needs of its fellow and alumni community. The organization is committed to preserving its legacy of entrepreneurship development and ensuring an orderly wind-down of operations consistent with its charitable purpose.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, venture for america (vfa) continued to operate its entrepreneurship and fellowship programs, providing training, placement support, and community resources to its network of fellows and alumni. Throughout the year, the organization also experienced increasing financial and operational challenges, including a significant decline in venture funding among company partners, which reduced both revenue and available placement opportunities. These economic headwinds, coupled with shifting philanthropic priorities, led to a substantial decrease in grant funding that historically comprised the majority of the organization's income.on august 6, 2024, the board of directors and leadership team announced that vfa would begin the process of winding down current day-to-day operations. This decision followed several years of changes in the entrepreneurial landscape and increasing difficulty sustaining the organization's historical funding model. The announcement also recognized vfa's achievements over its 13-year history, including supporting over 950 companies, contributing to economic growth in more than 20 cities, enabling fellows and alumni to launch more than 375 businesses, and building a community of more than 1,600 individuals.following this decision, vfa maintained a small transition team responsible for completing the required administrative, operational, and financial tasks associated with the wind-down. These activities continued through the end of the year.the board of directors is continuing to explore potential strategic restructuring options that may support the ongoing needs of the existing fellow and alumni community and determine whether a future iteration of vfa is feasible. While operational activities are winding down, the organization emphasized the enduring strength and impact of the vfa community and its long-term legacy in entrepreneurship development.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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. Some filed totals do not add up and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 2nd 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.2% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.