Chicago Family Business Council Inc DBA Entrepreneur and Family Business Council

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453803171
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3124733826
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$548,614
Expenses
$583,142
Assets
$620,498
Liabilities
$64,092

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVE HORVATH (Past President)
  • JOEL SPENCER (Vice President)
  • DARRIN SHILLAIR (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH FIDANOVSKI (Executive Dir.): $135,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

EFBC exists to help entrepreneur, family businesses, and other closely held companies achieve their business goals through a unique peer support system and related educational programs that provide growth strategies for chief executives, their employees, their families, and their businesses.

What it reported doing in 2024

THE ORGANIZATION OPERATES TO PROMOTE EDUCATIONAL AND CHARITABLE PURPOSES FOR FAMILY, CLOSELY HELD, AND ENTREPRENEURIAL BUSINESS THROUGH ACTIVITIES WHICH INCLUDE BUT NOT LIMITED TO: EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PEER-TO-PEER FORUM GROUPS, ENCOURAGEMENT OF STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INVOLVEMENT, RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF FAMILY BUSINESS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.FORUMS - Forums are the heartbeat of EFBC. These groups give EFBC members a chance to share their business, family and personal experiences with one another in a confidential setting. Your forum is a place where youre not expected to have all the answers. Instead, your forum gives you the opportunity to draw on the experience and perspectives of fellow members to make the best choices for you and your business.EFBC offers forums for CEOs and business leaders, bringing a variety of entrepreneurs together in informal settings. After speaking with new members about their goals, EFBC selects forums for them that best suit their needs. Each forum is capped at nine members, and each participant comes from a different industry to create a diverse and rich set of perspectives within the group.Members that participate in a forum commit to nine meetings a year, which begin at 3 p.m. and last through dessert. Participants also attend a mandatory three-day, two-night retreat.PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOPS - Learning together is a key part of the EFBC experience. We offer a variety of educational programs throughout the year, including: Roots Curriculum: We offer educational courses under our core roots curriculum open to members and the general public. Courses are in a 2-month leadership training, 8-month team based strategic planning, execution and management course, family business 101, family meeting, and transitional preparation assessments.Powerful Speakers: EFBC regularly invites well-known business and cultural figures to share their insights at our seminars, which are open to members and the public. Past presenters include author and leadership expert Stephen R. Covey; JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon; Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial; and Bill Rancic, winner of the first season of The Apprentice.Hands-On Workshops: Practical business skills are the focus at our hands-on workshops. Led by industry experts, these courses offer useful strategies you can put to work immediately in your own business. Recent topics include the art of negotiating, recruiting strategies and a primer on the 80/20 sales approach. The workshops are open to members and the public.EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE - Learning to handle social interactions and build relationships effectively is essential to becoming a strong manager and leader. Thats the idea behind emotional intelligence, a concept that our members use to guide their interactions in their forums and in their everyday lives.Emotional intelligence is a field of psychology that focuses on four social characteristics: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. Unlike IQ, which is largely hereditary, people can improve their emotional intelligence through training and practice. The benefits of improving your emotional intelligence include: Becoming more aware of your skills and talents and how to use them effectivelyIncreasing your empathy and listening skillsLearning how to analyze your options better and make the best choicesBuilding deeper, stronger relationshipsBuilding your confidence by applying what youve learned to your life successfullyEFBCs forums provide the framework that members need to develop their emotional intelligence so they can communicate effectively with fellow members, their employees and family members. Members can also participate in PdEI (Peer development for Emotional Intelligence), a training methodology created by EFBCs founder, James Liautaud. Liautaud, who has championed the concept of emotional intelligence and is a clinical professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, runs t

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.5%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
  • 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: 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.5% of revenue deployed · 89.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $522K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $135K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.