Riverside Club for Adventure and Imagination
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 800904083
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2022
- Forms available
- Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2013
- Location
- West Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 6308278707
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Secondary, High School
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $485,273
- Expenses
- $536,543
- Assets
- $208,391
- Liabilities
- $-9,447
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Peter Searby (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Peter Searby (Executive Director): $85,064 total reported compensation
- Liam Mitchell (Key Employee): $62,191 total reported compensation
- John Wesley Brown (Key Employee): $56,571 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization provides programs that inspire the imaginations of the young and cultural events that foster a creative community of families, educators, artists, storytellers, craftsmen, and adventurers. It is also a prayerful community in which there are many denominations of the Christian faith represented, as well as fellow pilgrims who seek an educational community rooted in beauty, goodness, and truth. Though we profess a Catholic view of the human person and purpose of education, we are dedicated to finding common ground with the various wings of Christendom through an understanding of the sacramental imagination expressed particularly well by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
What it reported doing in 2022
Riverside offers five imaginative learning programs: (1) Tutorial: boys and girls experience the full pedagogy of Imaginative Learning. The Tutorial is a 9 month, active and engaging course in writing, speaking, drama, and journalism. (2) Ranger: two week-long summer camps offer an outdoor adventure for boys that guides them along the adventurous pilgrimage to heaven. There is brotherhood through outdoor adventures, imaginative storytelling, and prayer. Activities include canoeing, hiking, swimming, air soft, campfire cooking, etc. (3) Theatre: boys and girls participate in seasonal theatrical performance. Summer theatre camps are offered during the summer. Drama is one of the most powerful means of communication for young and old. (4) Creative Arts: boys and girls grow in imagination, creativity, fellowship, and faith. Together they learn how to sing, draw/paint, dance, and play musical instruments. The Arts have the power to awaken a greater vision of life in each person. The Arts inspire us, enliven us, and give us hope. Summer camps are offered for girls. (5) Maker: A team of craftsman and artists run Maker Sessions throughout the year. The Sessions take place at places amenable to the particular session-homes of "Riverside Friends", and the workshops of some of our experts. Maker Sessions are hands on activities that focus on craftsmanship, artistry, and technical skills with a view towards making useful and beautiful things. Please see the Riverside website (rside.org) for all the details.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 89% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 63
- Sustainability: 17
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 11
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -10.6%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 55.2%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $537K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2017 to 2022
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 9 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.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 8 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.