Northwestern Illinois Center for Independent Living
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 363401384
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Sterling, IL, USA
- Phone
- 8156257860
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $485,504
- Expenses
- $456,034
- Assets
- $582,379
- Liabilities
- $23,787
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARY CARLSON (PRESIDENT)
- KELLI CHAMBERS (VICE PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- MARY CARLSON (PRESIDENT)
- LINDSEY PISTOLE (SECRETARY/TREASURER)
- KELLI CHAMBERS (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 mission of nicil is the empowerment of persons with disabilities. Nicil will promote and practice independent living philosophy throughout all of its activities and programing. The center will provide direct & indirect services to and on behalf of people with disabilities. Nicil will promote public awareness of issues facing persons with disabilities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Independent living program- this is an ongoing program and served over 400 people. There are four core services provided through the independent living program: 1) advocacy - involves the empowerment of individuals and the education of the community at large. Nicil encourages the adoption of public policies which work on behalf of people with disabilities, recognize and protect their rights and promote their independence and advancement as citizens. 2) peer support - provides the opportunity for persons with disabilities to share experiences, concerns, strategies, and problem solving techniques. Peers are brought together to establish a relationship which allows the more experienced person to provide information and support and serve as a positive role model to the person whose disability is more recent. 3) information on referral - nicil is available to respond to specific disability related questions and to increase the knowledge about disabiiity issues and resources in the community. A comprehensive resource library is maintained and materials can be utilized by the public. 4) independent living skills training - training is provided to persons with disabilities enabling them to gain skills that will allow them to live more independently. A wide variety of areas are covered such as, financial management, sexuality, housing, education, self-advocacy, personal assistant management, transportation, and self care. Training is offered to persons with disabilities as they identify areas in which they feel a need for improvement and is provided individually or through group workshops.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 75% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
- Program expense ratio: 88.9%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.28; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 88.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $405K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.