Recipe for Change

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472510670
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Winnetka, IL, USA
Phone
3126590975
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Rehabilitation Services for Offenders

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$699,280
Expenses
$634,481
Assets
$744,569
Liabilities
$29,096

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLIFFORD NORRIS (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRUNO ABATE (CHAIRMAN): $35,900 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Recipe for change is providing mentoring and guidance to detainees in the jail and prison system through culinary, fine arts and life skills training while reinforcing the value of work and personal responsibilty

What it reported doing in 2025

Recipe for change is providing mentoring and guidance to detainees in the jail and prison system through culinary, fine arts and life skills training while reinforcing the value of work and personal responsibility. Recipe for change operates an active educational program five days a week in the cook county jail (illinios, USA) and working toward the goal of establishing a community based program offering support and continued training for recently released detainees.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.2%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.17; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.2% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $526K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $36K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.