Better Government Association Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 360802950
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 3124278330
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Government and Public Administration
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,548,547
- Expenses
- $4,716,036
- Assets
- $5,353,536
- Liabilities
- $1,661,698
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
33 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID GREISING (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID GREISING (PRESIDENT & CEO): $401,754 total reported compensation
- CHRISTOPHER SHOUP (VP OF OPERATIONS): $228,880 total reported compensation
- RUBY BAILEY (EDITOR IN CHIEF): $226,943 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 better government association, inc. (the organization") works to fight waste, corruption, and inefficiency in government, in Illinois by using investigative journalism techniques, litigation, and public policy studies to expose problems, inform citizens about the operations of their government and lay the groundwork for substantive legislative and administrative reforms.
What it reported doing in 2024
Policy team: the bga's policy team advocates for a more transparent, accountable, and efficient government through public policy reforms. We work to protect and strengthen Illinois' freedom of information act and open meetings act and to propose policy solutions to prevent corruption, inefficiency, and waste in government. The policy team advocates for good government across Illinois by crafting legislation to improve government efficiency and accountability. We track trends and research best practices in good government and publish analyses and perspectives on our website and with media partners.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 27
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.5%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 71.7%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th 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: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.7%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.14; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 36.1%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 79.5% of revenue deployed · 71.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $402K · 33 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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.
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.