Ascendus empowers low-to-moderate income business owners through access to capital and financial education.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
80¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 16 volunteers and 50 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
4 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $1.6M a year · 12% of revenue · last 6 filings
Fine: a surplus in 4 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
80%
of spending
Looks good: 80% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$1.6M
to officers and key staff · 12% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 12% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
16 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 16.2 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $20K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$37.4M
70% of total assets
Worth a look: liabilities are 70% of assets; over 65%.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
16
of 16 voting members
Looks good: 16 of 16 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$14.8M
+21% vs prior year
Spent
$13.2M
To programs
80%
Net assets
$16.0M
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$14.8M
FY2025▲ +21%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$12.4M
FY2021$14.6M
FY2022$13.4M
FY2023$10.6M
FY2024$12.2M
FY2025$14.8M
Expenses
$13.2M
FY2025▼ -16%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$9.2M
FY2021$7.8M
FY2022$9.1M
FY2023$13.2M
FY2024$15.8M
FY2025$13.2M
Net assets
$16.0M
FY2025▲ +11%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$8.8M
FY2021$16.4M
FY2022$20.8M
FY2023$18.0M
FY2024$14.4M
FY2025$16.0M

From the FY2025 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Apr 1997.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

80 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 80% · $10.5M Management & general 14% · $1.9M Fundraising 6% · $834K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

29 people listed on the 990; $1.6M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
$371,626Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Operating Officer
$247,000Pt VII · Sec A
$187,520Pt VII · Sec A
SVP, Lending
$161,072Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Development Officer
$157,429Pt VII · Sec A
SVP, Operations & Innovation
$157,170Pt VII · Sec A
VP, Credit Risk
$151,101Pt VII · Sec A
Reg. VP, Lending and Business Dev.
$144,130Pt VII · Sec A

Paul Quintero’s $372K as CEO is at the 65th percentile of top reported officer pay among 572 $10–100M community development nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Paul Quintero$371,626$388,360$438,111$387,981$361,266$290,800
Ana Hammock$247,000$232,273$241,866$185,053——
Joshua Brackett$187,520$192,403$146,666———
Jennifer Spaziano$157,170$162,273$181,352$142,439$143,893—
Ana I Hammock————$180,020$159,961
Andrea Ierace$161,072$165,131$176,998$133,171——
Fabiana a Estrada$144,130$148,397$171,609$149,979$137,521$114,042
Victoria N Richardson$157,429$159,421$171,035$137,420$141,086$110,296

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Empowers low-to-moderate income business owners with capital and financial education to build assets and create jobs.

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Provided by the organization

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2 programs · $10.5M · in their own filed words · FY2025
01

Ascendus has two primary programs, the largest of which is the provision of business loans and development services to entrepreneurs. We serve low-to moderate-income and underserved entrepreneurs who lack access to mainstream credit sources.

$6.9Mprogram expense
02

In the second program, ascendus participates in partnership programs where loans are originated and portions are sold to the partner organization. This program provides both a liqudity and risk mitigation allowing ascendus to make more loans serving more clients than it would without these programs.

$3.6Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$20K

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$14.8M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$8.6M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$5.6M
Investment incomeLn 3$685K
Money outPt IX
$13.2M
Ln 25
Programscol B$10.5M
Managementcol C$1.9M
Fundraisingcol D$834K
Owns and owesPt X
$16.0M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$17.9M
Total assetsLn 16$53.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$37.4M
PeoplePt VI, VII
29
listed · VII A
PaidVII A8
Voting boardVI 1a16
IndependentVI 1b16
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$8.6M
Government grantsLn 1e$812K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$5.6M
Investment incomeLn 3$685K
Total revenueLn 12$14.8M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$5.3M
SavingsLn 2$12.6M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$17.9M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$3K
Other assetsLn 15$979K
Total assetsLn 16$53.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$37.4M
Net assetsLn 32$16.0M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 550
VolunteersI 616
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$25.1M$17.9M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$11K$3K
Total assetsLn 16$61.5M$53.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$47.2M$37.4M
Net assetsLn 32$14.4M$16.0M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$910K$471K$332K$108K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$3.6M$2.3M$834K$454K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$124K$78K$32K$15K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$832K$562K$170K$100K
Payroll taxesLn 10$336K$217K$82K$37K
Management feesLn 11a$175K$142K$4K$29K
Legal feesLn 11b$65K$65K
Accounting feesLn 11c$139K$66K$62K$12K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$15K$584$8K$6K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$3K$422$3K
Office expensesLn 13$8K$2K$3K$3K
Information technologyLn 14$993K$823K$149K$20K
OccupancyLn 16$158K$118K$32K$8K
TravelLn 17$107K$48K$25K$34K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$7K$175$5K$2K
InterestLn 20$1.4M$1.4M
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$48K$40K$6K$1K
InsuranceLn 23$103K$80K$21K$1K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$4.2M$4.1M$107K$2K
Total functional expensesLn 25$13.2M$10.5M$1.9M$834K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest Viewing $14.8M$13.2M$1.6M$16.0M 990 PDF
FY2024 $12.2M$15.8M−$3.6M$14.4M 990 PDF
FY2023 $10.6M$13.2M−$2.5M$18.0M 990 PDF
FY2022 $13.4M$9.1M$4.3M$20.8M 990 PDF
FY2021 $14.6M$7.8M$6.8M$16.4M 990 PDF
FY2020 $12.4M$9.2M$3.2M$8.8M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $14,826,378 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $5,332,487$8,564,184
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $6,362,479$5,577,655
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $518,004$684,539
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $0$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $12,212,970$14,826,378
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $7,223,835$5,805,511
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $8,595,231$7,438,769
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $15,819,066$13,244,280
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$3,606,096$1,582,098
Part VI · Governance 16 of 16 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body16
VI-1b Independent voting members16
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $14,826,378 across 6 lines filed
VIII-1e Government grants$811,662
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$7,752,522
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$8,564,184
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $5,577,655$5,577,655
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $684,539$684,539
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $5,577,655 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $684,539$14,826,378
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $13,244,280 across 19 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $470,541 · Management $331,914 · Fundraising $107,742$910,197
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $2,315,922 · Management $833,941 · Fundraising $453,663$3,603,526
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $77,860 · Management $31,687 · Fundraising $14,635$124,182
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $562,296 · Management $169,642 · Fundraising $99,956$831,894
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $216,996 · Management $81,766 · Fundraising $36,950$335,712
IX-11a Management feesPrograms $141,774 · Management $3,750 · Fundraising $29,030$174,554
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $64,807$64,807
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $65,709 · Management $61,502 · Fundraising $11,852$139,063
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $584 · Management $8,051 · Fundraising $6,162$14,797
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $422 · Fundraising $2,875$3,297
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $1,640 · Management $3,192 · Fundraising $2,838$7,670
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $823,167 · Management $149,492 · Fundraising $20,116$992,775
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $117,785 · Management $31,977 · Fundraising $8,111$157,873
IX-17 TravelPrograms $48,161 · Management $25,148 · Fundraising $33,660$106,969
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $175 · Management $4,558 · Fundraising $2,250$6,983
IX-20 InterestPrograms $1,414,325$1,414,325
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $40,221 · Management $6,246 · Fundraising $1,078$47,545
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $80,354 · Management $21,334 · Fundraising $1,454$103,142
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $4,096,191 · Management $106,890 · Fundraising $1,888$4,204,969
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $10,538,930 · Management $1,871,090 · Fundraising $834,260$13,244,280
Part X · Balance sheet $53,358,328 assets, 18 lines filed
Asset lines not itemized here account for $30,825,908; see the IRS return.
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $4,761,783$5,278,172
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $20,316,922$12,636,746
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $1,888,185$2,519,396
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $646,345$269,619
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $353,776$369,474
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $10,724$3,185
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $59,820$476,789
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $1,116,933$979,039
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $61,543,017$53,358,328
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $656,303$512,229
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $360,879$435,030
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $39,487,661$31,822,661
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $2,053,649$814,419
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $47,171,255$37,404,468
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $10,421,966$11,188,526
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $3,949,796$4,765,334
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $14,371,762$15,953,860
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $61,543,017$53,358,328
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $15,953,860 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$14,826,378
XI-2 Total expenses$13,244,280
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$1,582,098
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$14,371,762
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$15,953,860

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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