Descendants Media Group Nfp Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814031598
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3125438959
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,948
Expenses
$47,373
Assets
$10,931
Liabilities
$2,285

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURIE A PASLER (PRES & EXEC): $16,300 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Were a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and educating future generations through experiential storytelling. By sharing and learning from the past, well connect communities, foster empathy, and help create a culture of peace, understanding and tolerance.

What it reported doing in 2025

Wwii curriculum courtroom 600 curriculum is standards-aligned for grades 7-12 and uses nuremberg trial primary sources to teach the causes and consequences of world war ii in europe. During the tax year, module 1 photography was licensed and educator materials refined for classroom use and distribution

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

SUPPORTED - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 51.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $39K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $16K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.