World Builders Incubator
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 922097451
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2023–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Berkeley, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5108833155
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public, Society Benefit N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $56,504
- Expenses
- $48,212
- Assets
- $8,964
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
2 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Gwendolyn Loeb (C.E.O. and President)
People named in this filing
- Gwendolyn Loeb (C.E.O. and President)
- Julia Shirley-Quirk (C.O.O., Secretary, and Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
World Builders Incubator (WBI) is a Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation and is organized for charitable purposes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding sections of any future federal tax code. WBI's mission is to speed the pace of progress with narrative arts, entertainment, and educational resources focused on social and environmental solutions. To achieve its mission, WBI brings thought leaders and creatives together through our core programs: the Story Arc, World Building Council, and our educational resources - the Wheel of Possibilities and Actions Library.
What it reported doing in 2024
Narrative Change: WBI's 2-year, inspiration-to-distribution STORY ARC is designed to develop solutions-focused arts and entertainment in all genres of fiction and all narrative mediums. In March 2024, WBI formed a Beta Cohort with 7 writers to test our strategies for helping writers create solutions-focused stories. In 2024, the Beta Cohort created full drafts of: 2 TV/streaming pilots, 1 screenplay, 1 play, 1 musical, and 2 books. The beta projects have plots and/or worlds that uplift informed solutions for: climate change, immigration, mental health care stigma, patriarchy, disinformation, and more. During the year, 14 coalition members provided 129 hours of program input, including reading and editing drafts, and dramaturgical input. To further the development of one of the plays, WBI also produced 1 online reading with professional actors, dramaturgs, and the writer.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 68% 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. 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: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 55.7%; rating input score 56
- Program expense ratio: 65.3%; rating input score 65
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14.7%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.19; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 70.3%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 28.4% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 172.1% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 55.7% of revenue deployed · 65.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $31K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 2 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.