Firebird Community Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363639885
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7739070841
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,526,589
Expenses
$1,209,795
Assets
$3,253,831
Liabilities
$92,074

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINA KOTRYCH (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • CARMEN VERGARA (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • KAREN REYES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • PEARL DICK (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $102,005 total reported compensation
  • KAREN REYES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $79,550 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Firebird community art's mission is to empower and connect people through the healing practice of glassblowing and ceramics.

What it reported doing in 2024

Project fire: project fire continued to provide youth who have been injured by gun violence with therapeutic glassblowing, employment, mentoring, and trauma-support groups.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.1%; rating input score 34
  • Program expense ratio: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 52.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.69; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.2% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.1% of revenue deployed · 69% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $835K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.