Chicago Fire Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 911931487
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 8727100740
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $903,565
- Expenses
- $1,177,132
- Assets
- $2,535,763
- Liabilities
- $126,360
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KEITH ANDERSSON (PRESIDENT)
- MATTHEW BURNHAM (VICE PRESIDENT)
- JESSICA YAVITZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JESSICA YAVITZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $225,971 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The foundation is dedicated to promoting the sport of soccer and providing educational and recreational opportunities to improve the lives of youth throughout the chicago area.
What it reported doing in 2025
The chicago fire foundation p.l.a.y.s. (participate, learn, achieve, youth soccer) program is committed to enhancing the academic performance and development of key social and emotional (sel) skills of elementary school students through a sports based curriculum. Since the program's inception in 2013, more than 550,000 hours of soccer has been played by both girls and boys in third through fifth grade. P.l.a.y.s. Operated in 50 chicago public schools serving more than 1,600 youth.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 62% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 68
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 96.5%; rating input score 96
- Program expense ratio: 74%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 98.1%; rating input score 98; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -30.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.15; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.2%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 96.5% of revenue deployed · 74% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $871K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $226K · 16 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.