Evanston Wilmette Golf Course Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362016649
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2011, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Evanston, IL, USA
Phone
8474759173
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,046,634
Expenses
$1,790,495
Assets
$6,056,438
Liabilities
$434,730

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATT ROONEY (PRESIDENT)
  • BILL SULLIVAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BILL SULLIVAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $74,462 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The primary purpose of the association is to encourage and promote the game of golf and to support recreational, social and athletic sports and pastimes. A secondary purpose of the association is to beautify the banks of the canal owned by the metropolitan water reclamation district of greater chicago and to maintain the property as an open green space in the communities of wilmette and evanston, Illinois.

What it reported doing in 2025

To manage and maintain the community golf course and clubhouse, and to provide low cost golf and instruction for residents.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $84.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th 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: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.5%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.38; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.8% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.