John H Vanderpoel Art Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362423826
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3127809742
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$57,991
Expenses
$27,316
Assets
$1,536,832
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Irene Testa (President)
  • Gregory L Lochow (Vice President/Secretary)

People named in this filing

  • Irene Testa (President)
  • Gregory L Lochow (Vice President/Secretary)
  • Thomas Murphy (Treasurer)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Art Museum open to public in Ridge Park during regular Chicago Park District hours, with related activities. Preserving and conserving art collection of approximately 600 works by 400 different artists.

What it reported doing in 2025

The John H. Vanderpoel Art Association continued to fulfill its stated mission to perpetuate the name and memory of John H. Vanderpoel and to maintain its art collection and to aid children and adults in acquiring a knowledge of and appreciation of art.We started the Vanderpoel lecture series with a lecture by esteemed historian Wendy Greenhouse who lectured about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. We offered a multitude of concerts featuring classical music and jazz. We gave tours to neighborhood groups and Vanderpoel school students. As in previous years we were a featured venue in "Open House Chicago and "Beverly Art Walk". We also co-sponsored "Ridge Park Art Fair & Uprising Solstice Market". Our curator selected paintings that were conserved by professionals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 52.9%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 56.26; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -20.7% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $24K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.