Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jul 2017.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
73 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
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
11 people listed on the 990; $596K paid to officers and key staff.
Darel Ross’s $169K as Executive Directorpresident is at the 54th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2832 $1–10M 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 · 7 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Morin | — | — | — | — | $217,259 |
| Matthew Benson | — | — | — | — | $202,951 |
| Darel Ross | $168,600 | $130,412 | $139,654 | $139,869 | $131,686 |
| Jorge Gonzalez | $143,242 | $108,681 | $111,424 | $112,653 | — |
| Laurie Supinski | $142,442 | $107,588 | $113,699 | $108,923 | $82,901 |
| Paul Moore | $141,285 | $98,885 | $111,861 | $111,278 | $105,665 |
| Michael Morin | — | — | — | $28,495 | — |
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 15aNo
- Loans to or from officersSch L · Pt II1 listed
Programs and updates
Empowers West Michigan entrepreneurs by providing funding, physical incubation space, mentorship, educational programs, and networking opportunities to strengthen the regional startup ecosystem.
Questions for Start Garden INC
Your first name shows with your question. Start Garden INC answers here, for everyone.
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Start garden works to establish a culture of entrepreneurship and invest into that culture. Start garden provides physical infrastructure for new business incubation, services to build an entrepreneurs intellectual capital, events and programs to expand an entrepreneurs social network throughout the business community and build capacity…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $349K | $753K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $541K | $81K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $1.0M | $2.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $706K | $437K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $321K | $1.7M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $402K | $402K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $548K | $548K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.1M | $738K | $158K | $158K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $24K | $17K | $4K | $4K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $155K | $108K | $23K | $23K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $68K | $47K | $10K | $10K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $3K | $3K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $49K | $49K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $9K | $9K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $97K | $39K | $48K | $10K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $26K | $24K | $3K | |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $26K | $15K | $10K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $421K | $295K | $105K | $21K |
| TravelLn 17 | $88K | $35K | $35K | $18K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $18K | $9K | $6K | $3K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $71K | $71K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $2K | $2K | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $3.1M | $2.2M | $565K | $259K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest Viewing | $4.5M | $3.1M | $1.4M | $1.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $1.3M | $2.4M | −$1.1M | $321K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $1.9M | $2.4M | −$558K | $1.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $3.4M | $2.3M | $1.1M | $2.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $2.7M | $3.1M | −$400K | $917K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $4,456,215 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 7 of 8 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $4,456,215 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $3,063,330 across 17 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $2,150,744 assets, 14 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,713,567 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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