Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362822431
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7732745123
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ethnic, Immigrant Centers
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,843,541
Expenses
$1,777,321
Assets
$2,401,067
Liabilities
$557,789

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Shmuel Notik (President & Secretary)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shmuel Notik (President & Secretary): $52,602 total reported compensation
  • Shterna Notik (Director): $9,510 total reported compensation
  • Meyer Schanowitz (Director): $5,460 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Assist Jewish Immigrants from Eastern Europe and their families

What it reported doing in 2024

Community Center in Riverwoods IL serves northern suburbs with services, classes and events. Approx. 20 people attend various daily activities, 150 people come to events at least once a week, and over 800 people come to events from time to time.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 45
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 70.8%; rating input score 71; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.6%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.35; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 80.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 11 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.