Venture Richmond Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521256458
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Richmond, VA, USA
Phone
8047886470
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,740,813
Expenses
$8,635,636
Assets
$14,371,999
Liabilities
$618,926

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

Leadership & pay

61 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LISA SIMS (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • ANEDRA BOURNE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LISA SIMS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $345,801 total reported compensation
  • LUCY MEADE (DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVEL): $209,382 total reported compensation
  • ANEDRA BOURNE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $197,373 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Venture richmond engages business and community leaders in partnering with the city to enhance the vitality of the community, particularly downtown, through economic development, marketing, promotion, advocacy and events.

What it reported doing in 2025

Venture richmond manages and maintains the riverfront in accordance with contracts with the city of richmond; operating riverfront canal cruises and maintaining the canal walk, brown's island, and belle isle parking lot. Manages programs and projects for the riverfront special service and assessment districts in accordance with contracts with the city of richmond. In addition to the revenue above, the program received a $200,000 municipal grant provided by the city of richmond. Venture richmond, in partnership with the city of richmond, has plans to transform brown's island into a world class riverfront park with restrooms, potable water, ada accessibility and so much more. The $30 million project is being funded as 50/50 public private partnership between the city of richmond and the private sector. Venture richmond is leading the private sector fundraising that began in 2024.

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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.6%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 92.7%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.92 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 37.2%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.66; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.2%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.6% of revenue deployed · 92.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 55 of 55 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $346K · 61 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.