Lawndale Christian Legal Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272285007
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Chicago, IL, United States
Phone
773-823-7800
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Legal Services
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,896,410
Expenses
$4,719,708
Assets
$14,832,953
Liabilities
$8,899,005

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES BROOKS (PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD)
  • BRUCE BONECUTTER (VICE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD)
  • CLIFF NELLIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • JAMES BROOKS (PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD)
  • BRUCE BONECUTTER (VICE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD)
  • TRACIE WORTHY (SECRETARY OF THE BOARD)

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

Lawndale Christian Legal Center (LCLC) provides free-of-charge legal services to juveniles and emerging adults in North Lawndale, grounded in wraparound/restorative support to interrupt the arrest/incarcerate/repeat cycle. Being a part of our community gives us a unique understanding of how unmet needs can pull juveniles and emerging adults into the criminal justice system. Our wraparound support provides the resources, training, mentorship, and positive options that are key to interrupting the arrest/incarcerate/release/repeat cycle. For instance, it’s clear that homelessness and unemployment hit young men living in North Lawndale especially hard, forcing choices that often lead to arrest. A key part of LCLC’s solution is our Keeler Avenue 28-unit, residential workforce development program. Having a safe and secure place to live allows residents to focus on employment skills that...

What it reported doing in 2025

Community holistic defense provides social services, including case management, outreach services, and wraparound supports, integrated with legal representation, for youth involved in the criminal justice system, ages 24 and younger, on chicago's west and south sides.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 67% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 74% for direct work, and 26% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 3.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.14; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.6; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.1% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.