Chicago Headline Club Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
542120304
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
8722672242
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$75,646
Expenses
$83,039
Assets
$98,152

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MOLLY MCDONOUGH (PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN STEVENS (ACTING SECRETARY/PAST PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL PUENTE (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • MOLLY MCDONOUGH (PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN STEVENS (ACTING SECRETARY/PAST PRESIDENT)
  • GREGORY KARP (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Inspiring the future of journalism, the Chicago Headline Club Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Chicago Headline Club.

What it reported doing in 2025

FOIAfest 2023. Believed to be the largest of its kind in the US. 2023 FOIAfest was an online & in-person seminar with panelists teaching about how to use Freedom of Information Act requests. The event has hundreds of attendees, with dozens of panels and workshops featuring leading journalists, attorneys and community groups, plus new training and networking opportunities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 53% for direct work, and 47% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.5%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 63.3%; rating input score 63

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.8%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.5% of revenue deployed · 63.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $53K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.