Lucky Jefferson

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873213109
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Berwyn, IL, USA
Phone
7739740961
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$89,457
Expenses
$67,680
Assets
$30,671
Liabilities
$1,412

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NaBeela Washington (President, Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • NaBeela Washington (President, Executive Director)
  • Dashone Jackson (Treasurer)
  • Tiffiny Washington (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Lucky Jefferson is a literary nonprofit dedicated to amplifying the voices of modern readers through publishing, education, and community programming. The organization publishes print literary works, compensates 100% of contributors at fair rates, and provides free educational workshops in poetry, media literacy, and visual storytelling. Lucky Jefferson prioritizes writers and artists historically excluded from mainstream publishing including BIPOC, incarcerated, disabled, and multilingual creators.

What it reported doing in 2025

Photography Fellowship and Exhibition Description: Awarded first Photography Fellowship to Englewood photographer Brittany Norment in partnership with Buddy. Fellowship included mentorship, editorial support, and equipment access. Culminated in the Everyday Monuments exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 24.3%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.4%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $69K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Part III program expenses within total did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.