Center for Disability & Elder Law Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363203809
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3123761882
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,374,109
Expenses
$2,341,320
Assets
$2,703,709
Liabilities
$219,815

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Russ Molter (President)
  • Allison Disney (Vice President)
  • Theresa Jaffe (Immediate Past President)
  • Caroline Manley (Executive Director (end 7/2025))
  • Michael Stone (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Stone (Executive Director): $150,677 total reported compensation
  • Caroline Manley (Executive Director (end 7/2025)): $93,091 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CDEL has a dual mission, which has remained constant since the organization was founded in 1984: 1. To provide free legal services to low-income seniors and persons with disabilities who reside in Chicago and suburban Cook County, Illinois.2. To foster the spirit of pro bono service throughout the Chicago and Cook County legal communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Organization provides pro bono legal services to low-income elderly and people with disabilities throughout Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. The Chicagoland based legal community provided over $2,300,000 in donated legal services which supplemented out of pocket program costs. The Organization facilitates the legal community by providing attorneys and paralegals the opportunity to assist CDEL and its clients. CDEL also provides training to attorneys that qualifies for their CLE credit.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% 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 - Most voting board members are independent and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.3%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 30.6%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.15; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.3% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $151K · 30 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 47/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.