Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 360896695
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 3122452523
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,337,647
- Expenses
- $8,162,283
- Assets
- $10,544,885
- Liabilities
- $4,045,932
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
116 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- STEVE J BERNAS (PRESIDENT & CEO)
- DAVID BEHNKE (VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE)
Highest reported compensation
- STEVE J BERNAS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $402,677 total reported compensation
- PIERRE DROIRA (VP OF BUS. ENGAGEMENT/ADVERTISING): $263,212 total reported compensation
- DAVID BEHNKE (VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE): $237,099 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We are committed to helping businesses and consumers foster a marketplace of trust. From our home base in chicago, we work to serve you in an area that spans from northwest Illinois across the state to kankakee and all areas in between. (continued on schedule o) we are on the road visitng communities, collaborating with local businesses, educating consumers and promoting relationships build on trust. We are supporting our military, assisting our seniors, empowering our youth and holding businesses to a higher standard so that you don't have to. Your continued support means more public outreach, more investigations into substandard business behaviors, more education on scam awareness, and more support for businesses to remain devoted to honesty and integrity. Together, we can make a powerful impact on the places we call home.
What it reported doing in 2024
Promote fair business with respect to trade and consumers through media interviews, coverage of marketplace trends and scams, media releases, self help books, charity review, home and auto shows, speakers bureau for navy, universities and a variety of schools, announcements and printing of reports. Distribution of specific business reliability reports on 100,000 businesses. An integral part of the development of business reports is the organization's investigation division that reviews information and works with various agencies to promote integrity in the marketplace, ethics awards recognizing best practices, and assistance in settling complaints with businesses.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 93% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 50
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- 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: 99.1%; rating input score 99; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 12.6%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 105 of 106 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $403K · 116 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 13 of 13 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.