A Knock at Midnight Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
743104573
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7734882960
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,209,005
Expenses
$3,221,942
Assets
$623,359
Liabilities
$389,960

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Ida M Brown (DIR/FISCAL ADMI): $168,774 total reported compensation
  • JOHNNY BANKS SR (Executive Dir.): $165,423 total reported compensation
  • LINDA GOODWIN (PROGRAM COORDINATO): $102,077 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To collaborate and build linkages with schools, churches, nonprofits, private community organizations, the juvenile justice system, and other government institutions.

What it reported doing in 2025

UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM provides fundamental pursuits. The program provides opportunities for participants to succeed in their education The goal of AKAM-UPWARD BOUND is to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate, from institutions of postsecondary education. During the academic school year, youth will receive counseling, academic advising skill enhancement group outings, mentoring and other beneficial workshops.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.4%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.19; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.63; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.5%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.3% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 9 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.