The Executives' Club of Chicago

Overview

Mission

To be chicagos premier resources for connecting, developing, and growing best-in-class leaders to provide established and emerging leaders opportunities to develop and nurture meaningful relationships, participate in innovative programming, and gain world-class knowledge that will expand perspectives and sharpen capabilities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Program sponsorship: program sponsorship delivers an extensive portfolio of events each season, which present influential global leaders, current business and economic trends and best practices that respond to the interests of the business community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
361054078
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3122633500
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.1%; rating input score 91; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.4% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 51 of 56 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $578K · 63 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $108K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Leadership & pay

63 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MARGARET M MUELLER (PRESIDENT/CEO): $578,466 total reported compensation
  • EVA MARIE PENAR (CHIEF CONTENT & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER): $188,901 total reported compensation
  • LAURA ANNE WASSERMAN (CHIEF ADMINISTRATION OFFICER): $142,276 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.