Brilliant Cities

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
994865533
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Phone
3134257456
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,928,180
Expenses
$554,321
Assets
$2,674,684
Liabilities
$131,701

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Cindy Eggleton (SecretaryCEO): $277,555 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To cultivate Kid Success Cities full of opportunities for young children and families. Brilliant Cities is a nationwide model that transforms houses into community hubs where children 08 are school-ready, healthy, and supported.

What it reported doing in 2025

To cultivate Kid Success Cities full of opportunities for young children and families to have what they need for a bright future. Brilliant Cities is a nationwide program that operates as a neighborhood-powered model to ensure children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into community hubs where children and families have what they need to thrive.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 14.8%; rating input score 15
  • Program expense ratio: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd 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: 81.1%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.83; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 14.8% of revenue deployed · 77.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $432K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $278K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 15/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.