Habitat for Humanity Chicago

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460494889
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3125630296
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,820,303
Expenses
$11,157,421
Assets
$12,598,449
Liabilities
$7,254,809

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNIFER PARKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • Amy Bilton (Vice President)
  • Chris Martinez (Vice President)
  • Tammy Pearce (President)
  • Shahiedah Shabazz (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER PARKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $194,250 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Seeking to put god's love into action, habitat for humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope to realize our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Habitat for humanity chicago adheres to a strict non-proselytizing policy and will not offer assistance on the expressed or implied condition that people must adhere to or convert to a particular faith or listen and respond to messaging designed to induce conversion to a particular faith.

What it reported doing in 2024

Homeownership program (code 531390): buyers in need of a decent place to live build safe and affordable homes in partnership with us. Habitat houses are modestly sized. They are large enough for the buyers needs, but small enough to keep construction and maintenance costs affordable. By using the labor of volunteers and prospective homeowners, employing efficient building methods, keeping house sizes modest, using donated construction materials and appliances, and issuing no-profit loans, habitat makes its houses affordable for buyers with low incomes to purchase. Affordable homeownership helps create the conditions that free families from instablity, stress and fear, and encourage self-reliance and confidence. Studies show that strong and stable households are foundational to child development and growth. When a home fosters - instead of hinders - health and safety, families can flourish. Owning an affordable home also allows homeowners to lift up their entire family by saving for their futures and investing in educational opportunities, bolstering job opportunities and career growth. During fiscal year 2025, habitat chicago served more than 8 families through its long-term homeownership program.

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 96% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.9%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 78%; rating input score 78; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.6%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.58; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 29.6% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.9% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $9.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $194K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.