Institute on Religious Life Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363797840
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Libertyville, IL, USA
Phone
8475738975
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$478,243
Expenses
$476,953
Assets
$496,877
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeffrey J Karls (Executive Director)
  • Most Rev Donald J Hying (Director/President)
  • Most Rev Bob Lombardo CFR (Director/Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeffrey J Karls (Executive Director): $72,019 total reported compensation
  • Anne F Tschanz (Director): $21,198 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Institute on Religious Life (IRL) is to promote vocations to the religious life and to support religious communities, both active and contemplative, in their apostolic mission in the Catholic Church.

What it reported doing in 2024

The IRL's "Religious Life" magazine, published five times per year, is distributed to over 2,100 religious, priests, bishops and lay people per issue. That periodical as well as the IRL's four websites (ReligiousLife.com, CloisteredLife.com, ReligiousBrotherhood.com, and VocationBlog.com) are windows into religious life for lay supporters and persons who are discerning a vocation. The IRL's internet visibility has grown with the year's numbers being 178,000 visitors on ReligiousLife.com, 166,000 visitors on CloisteredLife.com, 7,300 visitors on ReligiousBrotherhood.com, and 23,000 sessions on VocationBlog.com. The IRL's Facebook page has over 12,000 followers and its Instagram page has over 2,300 followers. On ReligiousLife.com young people can review the profiles of 199 religious communities and find discernment retreats hosted by IRL communities. The IRL also hosts a free Cloistered Life Forum online with 47 communities represented. It allows cloistered nuns to ask questions in a confidential environment, receive replies and suggestions from fellow participants, and share resources. The IRL's podcast, "Ever Ancient, Ever New", offers weekly talks and interviews with consecrated religious as well as talks and lectures from our archives. Over eighty episodes have been released, with 3,600 downloads by listeners from in the United States and across the world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 68% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.2%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 50%; rating input score 50; 42nd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.2% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $381K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.