Rockford Promise

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260388141
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Rockford, IL, USA
Phone
8156270491
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,576,525
Expenses
$1,562,964
Assets
$8,233,462
Liabilities
$5,085

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MAURICE REDD (PRESIDENT/IN)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAYLENE GROH (EXECUTIVE DI): $101,214 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Vision statement: enhance economic vitality in the rockford region by providing access to post-secondary education for all rockford public school graduates. - mission statement: remove financial barriers by offering full-tuition scholarships and provide support to enhance student success to degree or program completion.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided full-tuition scholarships for selected rockford public school graduates: 25 attending rockford university, 45 attending rock valley college, and 330 students attending northern Illinois university. - 198 additional students have been selected for full-tuition scholarships beginning in the fall of 2025 (25 attending rockford university, 26 attending rock valley college, 145 attending northern Illinois university, and 2 attending st anthony college of nursing).

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 85% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 69% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 31.6%; rating input score 32
  • Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $89.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 65.8%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.27; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 35.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 35.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 38.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 31.6% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.