Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853740683
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3128206250
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,220,759
Expenses
$3,839,089
Assets
$9,860,595
Liabilities
$17,285

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lawrence John Daufenbach (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TREASURER)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lawrence John Daufenbach (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TREASURER): $177,229 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The athenaeum center for thought and culture (actc) will promote and support the fine arts, cultural programming, and spiritual development for catholics and the general public in chicago, Illinois. Actc will operate from a historic theater building owned by the archdiocese of chicago located on the campus of saint alphonsus parish on the city's north side.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture is based in a historic structure, The Athenaeum Building, owned by the St. Alphonsus Parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. The Athenaeum budling hosts the programming described in ACTC's Form 1023 and Bylaws, including live artistic performances, lectures inspired by Catholic thought and teachings, and use by St. Alphonsus parishioners and other Catholics for spiritual development and religious retreats.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 61% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.4%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $76.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 38.3%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.57; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 40.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52.4% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $177K · 4 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $230K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.