Chiaroscuro Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454298994
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2018
- Forms available
- Form 990 2018
- Location
- Arlington, VA, USA
- Phone
- 9082194265
- Rating
- 63
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Professional Societies, Associations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $257,053
- Expenses
- $326,064
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HELEN ALVARE (PRESIDENT)
- MEGAN MCDONNELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MEGAN MCDONNELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $37,113 total reported compensation
- HELEN ALVARE (PRESIDENT): $27,762 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization's goal is to educate the public on the value and importance of human life and religious freedom. The institute pursues these interests through occasional support of academic scholarship and programming.
What it reported doing in 2018
I believe in love: presently, i believe in love is an online community, www.ibelieveinlove.com, which generates highly shareable content on sex, dating, marriage, parenting and thrifty living. The site was developed after consulting with leading sociologists, economists, and other marriage and family formation experts. Its goal is to instill hope and solidarity among young adults in lower-middle-income america who aspire to faithful love and marriage, but often fail to realize it in their lives. Articles on the site are written by young americans in the lower-middle-income and those in the upper-middle-income who have long term commitment and expertise in these areas of sex, dating, marriage, parenting, and thrifty living. Writers also (cont'd on sch o) work with editors, who are trained and sent into lower-income communities to befriend and help young adults realize marriage and family in their lives.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Affiliate-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
- 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 total spending goes to programs and the required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 57
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 7
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
- Program expense ratio: 54%; rating input score 54
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
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: No; rating input score 0
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -26.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -5.6% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 54% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $176K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2013 to 2018
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.