South Carolina · Nonprofit
Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc
Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc (South Carolina) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $21,910 to it, the largest being DRR FAMILY FOUNDATION ($19,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $656k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $22k
- Net assets
- $491k
What Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc does
Mission
To foster regional economic development and support entrepreneurship by providing business incubation, education, and mentorship programs to early-stage and growing businesses.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The Don Ryan Center for Innovation (DRCI) advances regional economic development by providing specialized business incubation, mentorship, and support programs. Core initiatives include the STARTUP program, which offers curriculum and mentorship for early-stage companies bringing new products to market, and the GROWTH and THRIVE programs, which assist established businesses with strategic scaling and operational stability. Additionally, DRCI operates targeted demographic programs such as HEROES, supporting veteran and first-responder entrepreneurs, and TRADEUP, assisting skilled trade and service businesses. Through these combined efforts, along with its CATALYST program and a robust volunteer mentorship network, DRCI equips local innovators with the education, resources, and strategic partnerships necessary to launch and sustain successful enterprises.
$274,424 spentof which $40,000 as grants$24,220 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $274,424.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $332k to $791k (+138%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 76% · 2019 93% · 2021 64% · 2022 75% · 2023 44% · 2024 76% · 2025 83%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (62% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
David Nelems
Executive Director
Board chair
Berl Davis
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $3k → $68.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 87% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside South Carolina, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $410 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 7,175 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,175 community improvement nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In South Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
49% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Town of Bluffton · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc?
- Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc (South Carolina) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $21,910 to it, the largest being DRR FAMILY FOUNDATION ($19,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $21,910 in grants to Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc?
- DRR FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $19,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Don Ryan Center for Innovation Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing