Chicago Bible Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362495301
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Chicago, IL, US
Phone
(773)-857-0741
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Inmate Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$316,696
Expenses
$302,243
Assets
$240,443
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • M Renetzzky (President)
  • Wendy Cotter (Vice President)
  • Kenneth Oliver (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kenneth Oliver (Executive Director): $63,244 total reported compensation
  • Jesus Nunez (Director): $30,411 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sharing God's Word with those in need.

What it reported doing in 2024

Program A - Scripture Provision - Chicago Bible Society distributes Bible scripture portions, Study Guides to jails, hospitals, shelters & churches.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 5th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.6%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $217K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $63K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.