Tech Frontier DBA Fab Lab El Paso FY2021 filing

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EIN 46-3572259 Public charity (501(c)(3)) El Paso, TX NTEE A25
Form 990 (PDF)

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Revenue & expenses by yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$303K
FY2021▲ +21%
Expenses
$320K
FY2021▲ +20%

Form 990 for the fiscal year ending December 2021 (IRS tax year 2021).


Offers open access community space, hardware, software, and resources for education and development. For fiscal year 2021 it reported $303K in revenue, $320K in expenses, and $133K in net assets.Pt I

Type
Public charity (501(c)(3)) · Arts & Culture
Location
El Paso, TX
Website
www.fablabelpaso.org
Filings
6 on file (2020–2021)
Revenue
$303KFY2021
Expenses
$320K
Net assets
$133K
People
7
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Provided by the organization

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Size
$100K–1M
What they do
Offers open access community space, hardware, software, and resources for education and development.
Leadership
Cathryn Chen · Exec Dir · $70K
Money in and out
$303K revenue, $320K expenses
Bottom line
71% program efficiency

What Funders Ask

6 questions, answered from this org's own filings

Will my donation be tax-deductible?

GOOD

Yes — A charitable, religious, educational, scientific, or literary organization. Contributions are generally tax-deductible for donors.

IRS Business Master File records this organization as tax-exempt with deductible contributions. See detail →

Can I donate to this org right now?

GOOD

No revocation on IRS record

This EIN does not appear on the IRS auto-revocation list. See detail →

Is this organization up to date?

GOOD

Yes — filed FY2025

Most recent Form 990 on file is for fiscal year 2025 (1 year ago). See detail →

Is it receiving grants from reputable foundations?

GOOD

1 funder — American Online Giving Foundation INC

1 distinct foundation funder(s) on file, $7K received in the most recent year with grants. See detail →

How is the money spent?

GOOD

71% to programs

71% of total functional expenses went to program services in the most recent filing (Form 990 Part IX); the rest is overhead and fundraising. See detail →

What's its financial size and trend?

NEUTRAL

$100K–1M · ↑ +21% vs prior year

Revenue band $100K–1M, +21% versus the prior filing year (up). See detail →

Where the money goes · FY2021
Total revenue
$303K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$320K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$133K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$17K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.71 Management & general $0.29 Fundraising $0.00
Program efficiency
71%
of spending reaches programs
Operating runway
5.6mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
-5%
revenue over expenses, this year

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Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2021 · Form 990
Total assets
$213K
FY2021▼ -9%
Total liabilities
$79K
FY2021▼ -6%
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$17K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$213K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B71%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 37
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 4pending

Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal name (IRS)Hdr · item CTech Frontier DBA Fab Lab El Paso
EINHdr · item D46-3572259
Principal addressHdr · item CEl Paso, TX
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.fablabelpaso.org
Year of formationHdr · item Lpending
State of legal domicileHdr · item MTX
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFArts & Culture (A25)
Ruling yearIRS BMFJul 2015

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a7
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1bpending
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aNo
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14No
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Exec Dir
$69,596Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Pres
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Cathy Chen’s $120K as Exec Dir is at the 95th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2216 $100K–1M arts & culture 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 · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Cathy Chen$120,000$94,615$94,615$93,077——
Cathryn Chen————$69,596—
Cathryn Chen—————$59,788

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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Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

3 program services account for $226K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2021.
01

Grants & Contributions

$188Kprogram expense
02

General Workshops

$31Kprogram expense
03

Consulting & Professional Development

$7Kprogram expense

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Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants100%$303K
— government grantsLn 1e$30K
Total revenueLn 12$303K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.71 Management & general $0.29 Fundraising $0.00
Program services71%$226K
Management & general29%$92K
Fundraising$2K
Total functional expensesLn 25$320K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$149K
Total assetsLn 16$213K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$79K
Total net assetsLn 32$133K
Months of cash on handcomputed5.6

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2021 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $149K · Operating expenses/yr $320K
5.6 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $226K · Total expenses $320K
71%
Management & General
Management & general $92K · Total expenses $320K
29%
Fundraising
Fundraising $2K · Total expenses $320K
0.5%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (2-yr avg) $2K · Solicited contributions (2-yr avg) $262K
$0.01 to raise $1 (2-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $303K · Total revenue $303K
100%
Government reliance
Government grants $30K · Total revenue $303K
10%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $0 · Total revenue $303K
0%
Investment reliance
Investment income $0 · Total revenue $303K
0%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $0 · Total expenses $320K
0%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $303K · Prior year $251K
+21%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $133K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $303K · Expenses $320K
-5%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $213K
—
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $133K · Total assets $213K
63%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $213K
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Cathryn Chen · Reported title EXEC DIR · Highest reported compensation $70K · Total expenses $320K
22%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $203K · Total expenses $320K
63%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 71%——
Overhead ratio 29%——
Fundraising cost ratio 0.5%——
Revenue growth 21%——
Accounting fee ratio 2%——

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$7K

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Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2025 (Latest)$627K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2024$746K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$601K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$589K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$303K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$251K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

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Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2021IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
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