Blac Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
854258202
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Vocational Counseling

Reported finances

Revenue
$356,509
Expenses
$417,585
Assets
$61,536
Liabilities
$7,013

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

People named in this filing

  • CHRISTY HILER (SECREARY)
  • AVIGAIL SCHLOSSER (TREASURER)
  • CHRISTOPHER WITHERSPOON (CHAIRMAN)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To bring more young black people into advertising, ensuring they can fully express themselves, find community, and ultimately lead.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2022 blac hired its first full-time staff member, welcoming an executive director to lead the organization. Additionally, part-time temporary consultants were brought in to support project-based efforts and the expansion of the summer internship program. Blac's signature program, the blac internship program, doubled in size and reach in 2022, expanding from 11 host agencies supporting 32 interns, to 22 host agencies nationwide supporting 59 program interns. The program expanded to 12 weeks this year, from 8 weeks in 2021, and was able to educate, compensate, train, and provide hands-on experiences to interns through the immersive program prepping participants for roles in advertising agencies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 36.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $418K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.