Jewish Free Loan Chicago
Legal name: Jewish Free Loan Chicago Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 920562371
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, United States
- Phone
- 312-344-3468
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Personal Social Services
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $342,421
- Expenses
- $209,892
- Assets
- $515,298
- Liabilities
- $88,465
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
People named in this filing
- Brent Adams (Director)
- Brian Hamer (Director)
- Alan Hoffman (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Jewish Free Loan Chicago helps Chicagoans discover small personal loans with zero-interest, in an effort to cut out the need for predatory lending, often in the form of risky payday loans and car title loans. ©2026 Jewish Free Loan Chicago, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization []( . Strengthening Chicago communities, one interest-free loan at a time. Since 2022, Jewish Free Loan Chicago has provided more than $525,000 in zero-interest loans, helping families and individuals cover unexpected hardships, pursue opportunity, and afford life’s essentials. Collectively, our borrowers have saved more than $100,000 in interest that would have otherwise gone to high-cost lenders. Every dollar not lost to interest has the potential to stay in the economy and support our local communities. $525k.
What it reported doing in 2024
Loan Administration Program
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 36
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 70
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 30.4%; rating input score 30
- Program expense ratio: 49.6%; rating input score 50
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 38.7%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.46; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 35.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 30.4% of revenue deployed · 49.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $104K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 30/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.