Block Club Chicago Nfp
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 823844275
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 3128600020
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,528,971
- Expenses
- $4,908,142
- Assets
- $2,798,802
- Liabilities
- $500,930
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LAURA WASHINGTON (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JENNIFER SABELLA (DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY): $163,631 total reported compensation
- SHAMUS TOOMEY (EDITOR-IN-CHIEF): $163,391 total reported compensation
- STEPHANIE NORINE LULAY (MANAGING EDITOR): $152,504 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Block club chicago is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to delivering reliable, nonpartisan and essential coverage of chicago's diverse neighborhoods.
What it reported doing in 2024
Block club is the most prolific hyperlocal news operation in the chicago area. We've published more than 25,000 stories on chicago's neighborhoods, covered hundreds of community meetings and send our newsletter out to more than 112,000 people daily.block club believes all neighborhoods deserve to be covered in a meaningful way. We amplify positive stories, show up to development and local school council meetings and serve as watchdog in neighborhoods that are often ostracized by traditional news media.our reporters don't parachute in once to cover a story. They are in the neighborhoods they cover every day building relationships over time with neighbors. We believe this ground-level approach not only builds community but leads to a more accurate portrayal of a neighborhoods.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 64% 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.
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: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 74.4%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: -8.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 22%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 23.6% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 26.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 74.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.