Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363342451
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7085080303
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ethnic, Immigrant Centers

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,162,281
Expenses
$5,251,219
Assets
$4,289,338
Liabilities
$313,121

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Yittayih Zelalem (President)
  • Michael Beyene (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Aklilu Adeye (Execitive Director): $104,506 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago (herein after referred to as ECAC) is a not-for-profit, non-political, tax-exempt organization committed to serving the educational, cultural, psychological, and socio-economic needs of Ethiopians in Chicago land and the surrounding areas. ECAC also responds to the needs of other similarly situated groups who might seek its services. ECAC endeavors to facilitate the overall adjustment, stability, growth and development of its constituency. ECACs mission is charitable and educational.

What it reported doing in 2024

Individual Counseling and Adjustment: Resettlement, placement and adjustment services - Refugee placement, counseling, adjustment, and case management services are provided to refugees, asylees, and other immigrants to facilitate opportunities to build new lives in the United States. The program includes reception at the airport, placement in affordable housing, cultural orientation, facilitating access to essential public support and health screening, case management, referrals needed to additional services, as well as cultural adjustment, and several other activities.English as a Second Language (ESL) - Basic and vocational English language education provided to newly arrived refugees and immigrants.Citizenship and Immigration Services - ECAC helps prepare refugees and immigrants to become U.S. citizens by offering free citizenship classes, assisting in the education, and filing application forms.Developing Ethiopian Cultural Museum - ECAC aspires to develop the Ethiopian Museum in Chicago and has collected hundreds of pieces of artifacts working toward establishing a museum that will promote the cultures, traditions , and history of the diverse people of Ethiopia and contribute to the global cultural exchange, and cross-cultural understanding, and collaboration. The Museum will provide learning opportunities for both children and youth of Ethiopian heritage as well as the general public about the rich traditions, cultures, and history of Ethiopia; one the ancient civilizations of the world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 88% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 96.7%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th 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: 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: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.8%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 35.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 36.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82% of revenue deployed · 96.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • 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.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.