Open Heart Magic

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270095889
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3126248079
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Personal Social Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,195,074
Expenses
$1,085,208
Assets
$1,317,175
Liabilities
$232,596

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Walton (Founder and Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Walton (Founder and Executive Director): $158,788 total reported compensation
  • Eric Steigerwald (Senior Director of Marketing and Program Development): $105,360 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of Open Heart Magic is to use the therapeutic power of magic and laughter to energize and strengthen seriously ill children in Chicago, IL, Ann Arbor, MI and Cleveland, OH area hospitals and aid their healing.

What it reported doing in 2025

Open heart magic's long standing program provides therapeutic magic, one-on-one, at a patient's bedside to bring laughter and strength to sick kids facing serious medical conditions. Our hospital magicians work with young patients, using magic as a means to encourage participation, engage the imagination, and help these kids find their own sense of confidence and mastery as they learn to perform tricks for their doctors, family, and friends. Because our bedside magic performances are personalized and interactive, we're able to work with kids of all ages, regardles of physical or developmental restrictions. We offer support to kids who are in a one time er visit, as well as patients undergoing long-term treatment for conditions such as pedicatric cancer, childhood diabetes, heart problems, and more.

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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.1%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 65.4%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 28th 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: 9.2%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.21; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.1% of revenue deployed · 65.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $710K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $159K · 29 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 44 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.