Build Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237022085
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7732272880
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$24,310,298
Expenses
$25,244,126
Assets
$28,537,915
Liabilities
$8,007,092

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ADAM ALONSO (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • ADAM ALONSO (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $262,984 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER CAMPBELL (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $165,338 total reported compensation
  • ANDRES ALVEAR (CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER): $148,146 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Build's mission is to inspire hope and offer opportunities so youth facing systemic obstacles can achieve positive futures. Build focuses on hard-to-serve youth in some of chicago's most challenging neighborhoods. Build does this through expertise in youth development, violence prevention/intervention and coalition building.

What it reported doing in 2024

Promote positive youth development by equipping youth with life skills necessary to resist the lure of street gangs, violence and drugs. Engage youth in in-school sessions and/or after school activities in order to identify issues, seek solutions and mediate disputes. Assist at-risk students to develop and implement plans for postsecondary education and careers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -3.8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.6% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 29 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $17.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $263K · 35 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $916K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.