Cicero Independiente
Legal name: Cicero Independiente Nfp
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 923042682
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2023
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2023
- Location
- Cicero, IL, United States
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Media, Communications Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $292,904
- Expenses
- $327,707
- Assets
- $795,614
- Liabilities
- $788,994
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- APRIL ALONSO (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- APRIL ALONSO (PRESIDENT): $60,000 total reported compensation
- IRENE ROMULO (DEV & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DI): $60,000 total reported compensation
- LUIS VELAZQUEZ (SECRETARY): $36,830 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To report on local news, with a focus on paying journalists of color to cover Cicero and Berwyn.
What it reported doing in 2023
The organization carries out its mission by equipping people with skills and resources, engaging critical public conversations and producing bilingual information that directly addresses peoples needs. The organization also produces and distribute quality information about issues affecting the residents of cicero and berwyn, il, and facilitating educational opportunities for journalists of diverse backgrounds.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 100% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 77
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72%; rating input score 72
- Program expense ratio: 64.3%; rating input score 64
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
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: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -11.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.43; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.99; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 48.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 72% of revenue deployed · 64.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 1 of 1 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $211K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.