Protect Our Parks

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
412274083
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2021, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7739297428
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Beautification and Aesthetics

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$85,054
Expenses
$70,461
Assets
$20,404
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Herbert L Caplan (President)
  • Ross Peterson (Vice president)

People named in this filing

  • Herbert L Caplan (President)
  • Ross Peterson (Vice president)
  • Angela Spinazzi (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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Advocacy and participation in various activities including but not limited to public meetings, public hearings, administrative proceedings, and legal proceedings in regards to public parks and open space, and to correct wrongful and/or improper conduct and actions, and/or to protect such parks and spaces from illegal and/or improper uses.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lead participant in seeking administrative review as well as raising other causes of action. The lawsuit asks the us district court of the northern district of Illinois to review and enforce long-established federal laws enacted to protect local historic sites, environmental impacts, impairment of dedicated public parkland, and related community natural resources which require a diligent search for alternatives prior to approval of any proposed projects that adversely impact existing public resources.throughout the year, expenses were incurred for the lawsuit which included various appeals, requests for preliminary injunctions and other submissions. Also engaged in other advocacy efforts regarding public parks and public trust property in the effort to keep such spaces open and free from misuse and abuse.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 99.9%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.2%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -53.8% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -59.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -48.3% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.8% of revenue deployed · 99.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $70K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.