Chess & Community Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 461104552
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2023
- Forms available
- Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2015
- Location
- Athens, GA, USA
- Phone
- 7707283808
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $316,662
- Expenses
- $280,349
- Assets
- $72,148
- Liabilities
- $16,423
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOY MARSHALL (BOARD PRESIDENT)
- LEMUEL LAROCHE (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- LEMUEL LAROCHE (CEO): $30,000 total reported compensation
- AJA ALLEN (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR): $18,772 total reported compensation
- JAMON HOLT (DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING): $5,450 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Chess and community inc is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing youth to lead through community engagement and civic modality to help youth manage impulsiveness and develop critical thinking skills. They prepare youth to lead by focusing on academic enrichment, civic engagement, career and entrepreneurial skills development and cultural education.
What it reported doing in 2023
Give youth voice and outlet for development.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 85% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.9%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 89.1%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 11.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 23% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 78.9% of revenue deployed · 89.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $250K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2012 to 2023
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.