Dupage Art League

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
366108168
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Wheaton, IL, USA
Phone
6306537090
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$284,227
Expenses
$260,079
Assets
$695,813
Liabilities
$2,088

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARY LYNN SULLIVAN (PRESIDENT)
  • DIANA MITCHELL (PRESIDENT EMERITUS)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARGARET BUCHOLZ (VP EDUCATION): $11,656 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote and encourage art education and visual arts through classes, workshops, gallery exhibits and free public programs.

What it reported doing in 2025

The dupage art league (dpal) offers classes in many various art mediums for adults and children. There are three summer sessions, two fall sessions and three winter/spring sessions. The most common classes are in drawing, watercolor, oil painting, pastels, colored pencil, acrylics, and pen and ink. Teachers at the dpal have extensive backgrounds and qualifications. There are scholarships available for adults and children who are unable to pay the class tuition. A scholarship program exists for military veterans.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 70% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.3%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 74.4%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.68; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.3% of revenue deployed · 74.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $193K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.