Big Shoulders Fund
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 363490557
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, US
- Phone
- 312.751.8337
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $53,155,887
- Expenses
- $54,884,867
- Assets
- $152,085,991
- Liabilities
- $22,661,081
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
42 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Joshua Hale (President and Chief Executive Officer)
Highest reported compensation
- Joshua Hale (President and Chief Executive Officer): $638,467 total reported compensation
- Rebecca Lindsay-Ryan (Chief Schools Officer): $347,255 total reported compensation
- Malcolm Douglas (Chief Financial Officer): $296,427 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Big Shoulders Fund provides support to schools with a proven track record of providing a quality, values-based education for children in need.
What it reported doing in 2024
Other program services: general academic enrichment activities for students, such as outdoor education, learning about investments and the stock market. Support for schools holding fund-raising events. Supporting volunteer school cleanup and maintenance activities. Grants to schools as designated by donors - agency (pass-through) transactions. In addition, big shoulders fund provides support to students, teachers, and adminstrators at catholic schools primarily serving low-income students in northwest Indiana through a restricted grant. Southeast side experience incubator (ssei) provides students at st. Francis de sales high school with valuable life and work experiences in a professional setting utilizing a work study program. Students' academic schedules are modified so that four students share one full-time entry-level job. Work study hours provide students with an enriched learning experience and is certified by the us department of labor.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 94
- Transparency & Controls: 69
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 94.1%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: $31.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- 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: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 87.9%; rating input score 88; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.3%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.77; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $51.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $638K · 42 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.3M reported
- Consistency: 49 of 50 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 94 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 85 filed related-organization links
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.