Have Dreams
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 364078008
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Park Ridge, IL, USA
- Phone
- 8476850250
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Employment Procurement Assistance
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,166,626
- Expenses
- $2,214,770
- Assets
- $2,700,264
- Liabilities
- $1,480,963
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ROBERT CREEVY (PRESIDENT)
- KRISTINA JOHNSEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- DANA FENCEROY (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $147,302 total reported compensation
- ROBERTA GOLDMAN (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $103,296 total reported compensation
- DANIEL WOODALL (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE (THRU 08/25)): $45,467 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Have dreams aspires to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (asd) learn, function independently and socialize, so that they may realize their full potential and develop into contributing members of their communities.
What it reported doing in 2025
Vocational: comprised of 3 main parts: life scils, project search and have dreams academy for participants with an autism diagnosis who are young adults. Have dreams offers one-on-one counseling to individuals on the autism spectrum as well as to parents and/or caregivers of those with asd. Participants develop crucial vocational skills, job preparation and training, as well as community outings. Participants have an opportunity to implement work skills they develop during the program and generalize these skills in appropriate work settings. There is also a concentration on socialization through field trips, structured social activities and participation in an extensive fitness and healthy living program. There were 24 lifescils participants and 12 have dreams academy participants during the year.
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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 25
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.1%; rating input score 72
- Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.22; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.1% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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.
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.