Illinois Balanced and Restorative Justice Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841678511
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Champaign, IL, USA
Phone
2177783351
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Safety Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$149,854
Expenses
$131,813
Assets
$53,258
Liabilities
$4,348

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELLYN AHMER (PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD)
  • DANIEL SMITH (VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA BALGOYEN (TREASURER OF THE BOARD): $17,265 total reported compensation
  • ELLYN AHMER (PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD): $1,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of Illinois balanced and restorative justice project is to provide leadership, education and support that promotes the principles, practices, implementation and sustainability of balanced and restorative justice.

What it reported doing in 2018

Provide balanced and restorative justice trainings, technical assistance, coaching and awareness (i.e. Circles, conferencing, and peer juries) along with community organizing, trainings and support for communities across Illinois.

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. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.9%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.3% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.4% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $116K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $17K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2013 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.