Springboard to Success Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
611745621
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3129352626
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$870,919
Expenses
$936,343
Assets
$2,081,605
Liabilities
$2,835

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

People named in this filing

  • KENNETH MALONE (FOUNDING CHAIR)
  • LAURINDA DODGEN (BOARD CHAIR)
  • DIANE KNOEPKE (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Springboard to Success (S2S) supports programs and partners that propel the Chicago Housing Authoritys youngest residents on their pathways to academic success, economic stability and independence.

What it reported doing in 2025

SUMMER PROGRAMS: Become a Filmmaker: Geared towards female identifying youth, the Become a Filmmaker filmmaking intensive is designed to provide all essential skill sets for a job in film: pre-production, camera operation, lighting, sound, and video editing. Working in small teams, 15 participants created three original short films. The films were screened as part of their graduation celebration and then went on to play at local venues and film festivals. The films themes provide a voice for social topics important to CHA youth and serve as an entry point to community discussions on creating positive change in Chicago. Next Level Photography is a six-week program designed to expose CHA youth to the field of photography and develop professional photographic skills. Sixteen participants were given a professional DSLR camera and led through a number of technical and creative exercises to provide a base for a potential career in photography. CHA youth were exposed to camera mechanics, lighting techniques, and a variety of photography genres (sports, portraiture, fine art, wedding, street/photojournalism) presented by accomplished photographers in each field. Although they were given autonomy to explore topics, they were urged to focus on visual stories that felt important to them and their community. Movie & TV Scripts 101: Nine CHA youth were invited to participate in an intensive six-week summer program studying the art of screenwriting. Movie & TV Scripts 101 allowed youth to become well-versed in the Classical Hollywood conventions of writing for film and television, and then developing a story pitch in to an original short script. The program culminated with a live table read with actors from DePaul Universitys Theatre School. The final scripts presented at the graduation ceremony as a live table read were No Mans Land, a short fantasy drama about a boy who goes on an adventure with a giraffe, and Is This Love, a short crime romance on how far two individuals are willing to go for the other.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 98
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.5%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $175.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th 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: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.22; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 13 filed program accomplishments · $904K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.