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Project Invent EIN 82-4377729

Project Invent FY2021 filing

EIN  82-4377729 Public charity (501(c)(3)) San Francisco, CA Founded 2018
Form 990 (PDF)
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Size
$1–10M
What they do
Empowers students to invent solutions for social good, building skills for global impact.
Leadership
Connie Liu · Founder & Executive Director · $94K
Money in and out
$517K revenue, $366K expenses
Bottom line
77% program efficiency

Empowers students to invent solutions for social good, building skills for global impact. For fiscal year 2021 it reported $517K in revenue, $366K in expenses, and $398K in net assets.Pt I

Where the money goes · FY2021
Total revenue
$517K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$366K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$398K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): $151K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.77 Management & general $0.14 Fundraising $0.10
Program efficiency
77%
of spending reaches programs
Operating runway
13.2mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
+29%
revenue over expenses, this year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2021 · Form 990
Revenue
$517K
FY2021
Expenses
$366K
FY2021
Total assets
$402K
FY2021
Total liabilities
$5K
FY2021
Total revenue
$517K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$366K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$398K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19$151K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$402K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B77%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 36
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 46
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

1 program service account for $282K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2020.
01

Trained and supported teachers at 50 schools to implement the Project Invent program. Hosted three virtual Demo Days for students to present inventions to top investors and tech executives. Published curriculum and resources used in over 2000 classrooms.

$282Kprogram expense

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Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CProject Invent
EINHdr · item D82-4377729
Principal addressHdr · item CSan Francisco, CA
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.projectinvent.org
Year of formationHdr · item L2018
State of legal domicileHdr · item MCA
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFScience & Technology (U99)
Ruling yearIRS BMFMar 2019

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a6
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b6
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
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 · most recent filed roster (FY2020); the FY2021 filing did not itemize Part VII
Connie Liu
Founder & Executive Director
$94,145Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Ann Weiss
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Bill Heil
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Albert Lee
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Jax Chaudhry’s $160K as Executive Dir. is at the 40th percentile of top reported officer pay among 361 $1–10M science & technology 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

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Jax Chaudhry$160,445$164,000$55,430——
Mike Catterlin$133,923$125,077———
Connie Liu———$56,808$94,145

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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Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants$489K · 94%
Program service revenue$27K · 5%
Contributions & grants94%$489K
Program service revenue5%$27K
Investment income$2K
— government grantsLn 1e$15K
Total revenueLn 12$517K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.77 Management & general $0.14 Fundraising $0.10
Program services77%$282K
Management & general14%$50K
Fundraising10%$35K
Total functional expensesLn 25$366K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$402K
Total assetsLn 16$402K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$5K
Total net assetsLn 32$398K
Months of cash on handcomputed13.2

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2021 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $402K · Operating expenses/yr $366K
13.2 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $282K · Total expenses $366K
77%
Management & General
Management & general $50K · Total expenses $366K
14%
Fundraising
Fundraising $35K · Total expenses $366K
10%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense $35K · Solicited contributions $474K
$0.07 to raise $1
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $489K · Total revenue $517K
94%
Government reliance
Government grants $15K · Total revenue $517K
3%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $27K · Total revenue $517K
5%
Investment reliance
Investment income $2K · Total revenue $517K
0%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $27K · Total expenses $366K
7%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $517K · Prior year —
No prior year on file
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $398K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $517K · Expenses $366K
+29%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $402K
—
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $398K · Total assets $402K
99%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $402K
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Connie Liu · Reported title Founder & Executive Director · Highest reported compensation $94K · Total expenses $366K
26%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $284K · Total expenses $366K
78%
Peer comparison

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

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 77%——
Overhead ratio 14%——
Fundraising cost ratio 7%——
Accounting fee ratio 1%——

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 · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
Mead Family FoundationFY2025$275K
Kla FoundationFY2025$52K
Total grants receivedfrom 2 funders$328K
Grants paid · 21 grants · $74K · 2021–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$8,500
Unitemized GrantFY2024$3,000
Unitemized GrantFY2023$16,000
Unitemized GrantFY2023$4,475
Unitemized GrantFY2023$1,425
Unitemized GrantFY2023$45
Unitemized GrantFY2022$10,050
Unitemized GrantFY2022$6,500
Gold Crown Foundation INCCO · FY2022$5,500
Unitemized GrantFY2022$2,500
Unitemized GrantFY2022$2,250
Unitemized GrantFY2022$495
Unitemized GrantFY2022$375
Unitemized GrantFY2022$340
Unitemized GrantFY2021$5,900
Unitemized GrantFY2021$2,800
Unitemized GrantFY2021$1,600
Unitemized GrantFY2021$1,160
See all 21 grants →

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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
FY2024$1.1M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$1.1M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$1.0M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$517K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 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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