Lincoln Park Conservancy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 363320423
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 7738837275
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Parks and Playgrounds
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $819,038
- Expenses
- $735,516
- Assets
- $762,899
- Liabilities
- $6,630
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RAFAEL ROSA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- RAFAEL ROSA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $129,501 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 lincoln park conservancy is to preserve and enhance the inspiring beauty of chicago's largest and most visited park for current and future generations. We believe that beauty matters. That it has the transformative power to lift our spirits, heal our bodies, unite our communities, and act as sanctuary from the pace and pressures of city life. As stewards of this urban refuge, the lincoln park conservancy is dedicated to ensuring that the park remains a world class destination for all by working with public and private partners to protect, restore, and maintain the park at the highest level possible.
What it reported doing in 2024
Education/volunteer programs - 1) north pond gardeners/corporate workday program: train and manage corps of 1500 volunteers to plant wildflowers, seed, identify and remove invasive species, prune and mulch trees/shrubs, maintain native plants in urban prairies, woodlands and wetlands, remove litter and educate them on the importance of native plants and animals to our environment and regional history. Volunteers also participated in several park clean-up days including large groups on earth day and public lands day. Volunteers contributed over 2,000 service hours to the program in 2024. 2) lincoln park docents: in 2024 we had 87 active docents that interacted with over 31,000 visitors. They also conducted 22 formal group tours and 13 wildflower walks around north pond.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 96% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 56
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 57.6%; rating input score 58
- Program expense ratio: 63.5%; rating input score 64
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 26th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.2%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 21.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 57.6% of revenue deployed · 63.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $467K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.