Libenu

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272149745
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Skokie, IL, USA
Phone
8472130514
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Group Homes

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,825,149
Expenses
$1,549,874
Assets
$7,108,907
Liabilities
$1,415,118

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHANA ERENBERG (CEO)
  • SHARYL ROSS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHANA ERENBERG (CEO): $195,693 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Libenu's mission is to provide a lifetime of care and support for children, teens, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, empowering them to live with dignity as fully included members of their community. Libenu partners with families, enabling them to create the life they want for their loved ones, resulting in decreased stress and an increased sense of security for the future. Libenu fulfills its mission by providing life-changing, robust respite services infused with traditional values for families; warm, welcoming person-centered kosher homes for adults; inclusive social and recreational opportunity; partnerships for day programming and vocational training; and leadership in community education and advocacy.

What it reported doing in 2025

The lev chicago respite program - provides desperately needed assistance to families by offering professional, dependable, well structured respite services in a warm, nurturing environment. Participants enjoy a variety of social and recreational activities centered around holidays and traditions, as well as a delicious, healthy kosher dinner. A high staff to client ratio ensures that everyone's needs are properly addressed and that libenu's "gold standard of care" is maintained.

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 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.3%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.1%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.59; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.3% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $196K · 11 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.