Chicago Engineers' Foundation of the Union League Club

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
366109433
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Private Operating Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$209,929
Expenses
$215,699
Assets
$440,987
Liabilities
$10,895

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Debbie Birrell (Executive Director)
  • Sharon Harmsworth (President)
  • Michael Driscoll (Past President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Debbie Birrell (Executive Director): $45,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire youth to explore engineering and to create pathways that empower young people to become the next generation of engineers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Conducts a community outreach program in Chicagos high schools to develop and promote an interest in students to pursue a career in engineering supporting services for grant awards. Also presents an array of online and in-person resources to help our award students develop succesful careers in engineering. We provide mentoring opportunities, resume evaluations and mock interview practice as well as assistance in seeking internship and full time engineering positions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 73% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 79.5%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.04; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.7% of revenue deployed · 79.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $172K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $45K · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.