Chicago Training Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
305261899
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
8725880222
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Swimming & Other Water Recreation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$349,357
Expenses
$391,515
Assets
$315,394
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Staci Brown (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Staci Brown (Executive Director): $70,769 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Chicago Training Center uses the sport of competitive rowing to create opportunities for underserved Chicago youth to challenge themselves to achieve their athletic and academic potential. The CTC nurturing environment helps develop leadership and educational skills to advance life goals.

What it reported doing in 2024

Rowing Programs for disadvantaged youth. Some highlights:14 regattas across 4 seasons, totaling 193 entries. For the first time in CTCs 19-year history, went to Nationals. For the past 5 years, we have had 100% graduation from high school and matriculationto college from our CTC athletes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% 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

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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.5%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; 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: 18.1%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.5% of revenue deployed · 79.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $311K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.