Spark Ventures
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 510626562
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 7572936710
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Relief
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,088,579
- Expenses
- $916,458
- Assets
- $624,655
- Liabilities
- $108,665
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Constance Benrud (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Kristin Schrepferman (Executive Dir.): $99,456 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Provide children in under-resourced communities with education, nutrition, and healthcare as well as jobs, capacity building and entrepreneurial opportunities for teens and adults. The organization strengthens and sustains partners by providing human resources, strategic guidance, and financial resources
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization assists over 1000 vulnerable children, teens and adults in under-resourced communities in zambia, nicaragua, mexico and chicago through programs that provide the children with education, food, shelter, health care and emotional support as well as vocational workshops, entrepreneurial opportunities and jobs for vulnerable teens and adults. The organization also uses funds to enhance and expand the effectiveness of partner programs, develop and train personnel, and execute capital projects.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 54% for direct work, and 46% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.3%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 95.4%; rating input score 95; 42nd 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: 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: 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: 15.8%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.9%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 74.3% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $807K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 34 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.