Logan Square Neighborhood Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362638491
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7733844370
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Neighborhood, Block Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,598,229
Expenses
$6,283,920
Assets
$3,945,324
Liabilities
$249,874

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Arturo Hernandez (President)
  • Juliet De Jesus Alejandre (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Juliet De Jesus Alejandre (Executive Director): $137,101 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Nature of Organization and Description of Program Services Logan Square Neighborhood Association d/b/a Palenque LSNA (the Organization or LSNA) is a community-based organization, advancing leader development and models for engagement as the catalyst for change. The Organization currently represents 34 member institutions, including churches, schools, block clubs, businesses, multi-unit buildings, and social service agencies. The Organization's work is driven by its Holistic Plan, which is collectively revised each year by local leadership and currently contains 7 strategies to address the community's key concerns: building organizational capacity, affordable housing and community development, health and open space, education and community schools, youth development, safety, and immigration. Specific programs include:

What it reported doing in 2024

Parent Mentor Program & Parent Engagement Institute: For over 30 years, Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) has trained parents in the Logan Square area, mainly mothers, to help fill persistent achievement gaps by volunteering in classrooms for two hours/day for at least 100 hours a semester. The Parent Mentor Program starts with a week-long training, inspired by restorative practices, during which parents explore their own leadership qualities and dreams, develop networks, learn classroom tutoring skills, and build social capital. After the weeklong training, Parent Mentors are paired with a teacher mentor. They work side-by-side in the classroom two hours/day Monday-Thursday. On Fridays, the Parent Mentor cohort comes together for reflection and professional development. Working together all year long builds strong relationships between parents, teachers, and principals. Parent Mentors give extra attention to students in need, particularly English Language Learner studentsmany of whom need extra support in grades K-3 because they are learning literacy in two languages. Parent Mentors learn how the U.S. school system works and strengthen skills needed to support their own children in school. Meanwhile, they build the confidence, expertise, and networks to advocate for their schools and communities. This begins to transform both the parents and the schoolsboth parents and the schools begin to see the positive impact parents' leadership can bring into the schools and parents also begin to solidify and set steps to meet their own personal goals. The Parent Engagement Institute (PEI), a partnership of Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) and Southwest Organizing Project, coaches community organizations and school districts across the country to replicate and scale the LSNA Parent Mentor Program. PEI sustains program validity by providing a structure for partner community organizations so that expectations are clear and by modeling the values of the Parent Mentor Program throughout its work. PEI cultivates a powerful network of Parent Mentor staff and leaders while at the same time providing individualized coaching to partner organizations, recognizing that every school, organization, and community is unique. PEI sets the strategy to expand the Parent Mentor model across the nation and guides Parent Mentor leaders to lead that campaign.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 70% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 85% 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

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: -12.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.63; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.8% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $137K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.