Northwest Suburban Bar Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362680186
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Arlington Heights, IL, USA
Phone
8472212601
Rating
41
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$166,054
Expenses
$242,561
Assets
$135,742
Liabilities
$32,609

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Julie Barth (Executive Director)
  • Nicholas Richardson (President)
  • Frank Serio (First Vice President)
  • Raj Jutla (Second Vice President)
  • Stephanie Donat (Immediate Past President)

People named in this filing

  • Julie Barth (Executive Director)
  • Nicholas Richardson (President)
  • Frank Serio (First Vice President)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The northwest suburban bar association is dedicated to improving the quality of life in our community by inspiring in the practice of law.

What it reported doing in 2024

Monthly dinner meetings for membership, attorneys, judges, and other members of the legal community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 18
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 22.9%; rating input score 23
  • Program expense ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 16
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -46.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.8% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 22.9% of revenue deployed · 15.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $36K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 23 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 23/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX FeesForServicesAccounting column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Occupancy column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX OfficeExpenses column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.