Start Garden INC: FY2023 Nonprofit Profile & Form 990 (EIN 81-1987459)

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.

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1 program · $1.9M · in their own filed words · FY2023

01

Start Garden works to establish a culture of entrepreneurship and invest into that culture. Start Garden provides physical infrastructure for new busines incubation, services to build an entrepreneurs intellectual capital, events and programs to expand an entrepreneurs social network throughout the business community and build capacity…

$1.9Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

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

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid

Grants received · FY2024

Dte Energy FoundationFY2024$15K

Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$15K

Grants paid · 68 grants · $2.4M · 2020–2024

Unitemized GrantFY2024$548,322

Captus CreativeFY2024$76,037

Supreme Focus EntertainmentFY2024$50,500

Athlytic INCFY2024$50,000

Peadbo INCFY2024$50,000

Aurora International Foods LLCFY2024$26,000

Reel Free LLCFY2024$21,000

Moodful Insights LLCFY2024$20,000

Spirit Fire LLCFY2024$20,000

A3stetically PleasingFY2024$20,000

Rosefellows Collective LLCFY2024$20,000

Black Quieen Bee LLCFY2024$11,000

Grand Rapids Area Black BusinessFY2024$10,000

Vive MagazineFY2024$7,500

Della Marie LeviFY2024$5,000

Nedith Faro Art and PhotographyFY2024$5,000

Fashion Has HeartMI · FY2024$5,000

Rituil LLCFY2024$5,000

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By the numbers

The FY2023 990, line by line.

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from philanthropy.org

1The main four

Money inPt VIII

$1.3M

Ln 12

Fees for servicesLn 2g$1.0M

Gifts and grantsLn 1h$263K

Investment incomeLn 3$1K

Money outPt IX

$2.4M

Ln 25

Programscol B$1.9M

Managementcol C$264K

Fundraisingcol D$255K

Owns and owesPt X

$321K

net assets · Ln 32

Cash and savingsLn 1–2$349K

Total assetsLn 16$1.0M

LiabilitiesLn 26$706K

PeoplePt VI, VII

12

listed · VII A

PaidVII A4

Voting boardVI 1a9

IndependentVI 1b8

2In more detail

Revenue in detailPt VIII

Gifts and grantsLn 1h$263K

Fees for servicesLn 2g$1.0M

Investment incomeLn 3$1K

Total revenueLn 12$1.3M

Assets in detailPt X, end of year

CashLn 1$342K

SavingsLn 2$7K

Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$349K

Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$541K

Total assetsLn 16$1.0M

LiabilitiesLn 26$706K

Net assetsLn 32$321K

OperationsPt I, VI

EmployeesI 516

VolunteersI 610

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

Line	Start FY23	End FY23
Cash and savingsLn 1–2	$313K	$349K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c	$960K	$541K
Total assetsLn 16	$2.3M	$1.0M
LiabilitiesLn 26	$877K	$706K
Net assetsLn 32	$1.4M	$321K

4Every line

Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line

Line	Total	Programs	Management	Fundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1	$78K	$78K
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2	$332K	$332K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7	$794K	$592K	$91K	$111K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8	$27K	$20K	$3K	$4K
Other employee benefitsLn 9	$150K	$112K	$17K	$21K
Payroll taxesLn 10	$59K	$44K	$7K	$8K
Legal feesLn 11b	$732		$732
Accounting feesLn 11c	$44K		$44K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g	$79K	$60K	$8K	$11K
Advertising and promotionLn 12	$57K	$43K	$6K	$8K
Office expensesLn 13	$35K	$18K	$14K	$3K
Information technologyLn 14	$44K	$34K	$4K	$6K
OccupancyLn 16	$421K	$314K	$48K	$59K
TravelLn 17	$72K	$54K	$8K	$10K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19	$135K	$129K	$3K	$3K
InterestLn 20	$2K	$1K	$195	$273
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22	$71K	$53K	$8K	$10K
InsuranceLn 23	$3K	$2K	$297	$361
Total functional expensesLn 25	$2.4M	$1.9M	$264K	$255K

Filing history

Year	Money in	Money out	In minus out	Net assets	Download
FY2024 Latest	$4.5M	$3.1M	$1.4M	$1.7M	990 PDF
FY2023 Viewing	$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

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations

See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)

Part I · Summary $1,291,217 revenue, 12 lines filed

I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $610,090$262,655

I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $1,246,933$1,027,157

I-10 Investment incomePrior year $483$1,405

I-11 Other revenue$0

I-12 Total revenuePrior year $1,857,506$1,291,217

I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $366,400$410,031

I-14 Benefits paid to members$0

I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $1,036,581$1,030,138

I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0

I-17 Other expensesPrior year $1,012,510$962,848

I-18 Total expensesPrior year $2,415,491$2,403,017

I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$557,985−$1,111,800

Part VI · Governance 8 of 9 board members independent, 1 to look at

VI-1a Voting members of the governing body9

VI-1b Independent voting members8

VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo

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

Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,291,217 across 5 lines filed

VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$262,655

VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$262,655

VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $1,027,157$1,027,157

VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $1,405$1,405

VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $1,027,157 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $1,405$1,291,217

Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $2,403,017 across 18 lines filed

IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $78,000$78,000

IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $332,031$332,031

IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $591,634 · Management $91,386 · Fundraising $110,921$793,941

IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $20,432 · Management $3,156 · Fundraising $3,831$27,419

IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $111,761 · Management $17,263 · Fundraising $20,953$149,977

IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $43,818 · Management $6,768 · Fundraising $8,215$58,801

IX-11b Legal feesManagement $732$732

IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $43,799$43,799

IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $59,519 · Management $8,010 · Fundraising $10,989$78,518

IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $43,230 · Management $5,689 · Fundraising $7,963$56,882

IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $17,643 · Management $14,256 · Fundraising $3,308$35,207

IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $33,591 · Management $4,420 · Fundraising $6,188$44,199

IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $313,544 · Management $48,432 · Fundraising $58,784$420,760

IX-17 TravelPrograms $53,929 · Management $8,330 · Fundraising $10,111$72,370

IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $128,723 · Management $2,807 · Fundraising $3,408$134,938

IX-20 InterestPrograms $1,483 · Management $195 · Fundraising $273$1,951

IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $52,841 · Management $8,162 · Fundraising $9,907$70,910

IX-23 InsurancePrograms $1,924 · Management $297 · Fundraising $361$2,582

IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $1,884,103 · Management $263,702 · Fundraising $255,212$2,403,017

Part X · Balance sheet $1,026,706 assets, 13 lines filed

Asset lines not itemized here account for $18,385; see the IRS return.

X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $181,657$342,446

X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $130,924$6,688

X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $810,000$75,000

X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $167,238$11,794

X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $33,467$31,694

X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $959,647$540,699

X-16 Total assetsStart of year $2,309,768$1,026,706

X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $96,349$295,741

X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $877,286$706,024

X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $622,482$245,682

X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $810,000$75,000

X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $1,432,482$320,682

X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $2,309,768$1,026,706

Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $320,682 net assets at year end

XI-1 Total revenue$1,291,217

XI-2 Total expenses$2,403,017

XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$1,111,800

XI-4 Net assets at start of year$1,432,482

XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0

XI-10 Net assets at end of year$320,682

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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Start Garden INC FY2023 filing

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