The Alliance 98 (TA98)

Legal name: The Alliance 98

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814856600
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7738083233
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Employment Procurement Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$824,627
Expenses
$582,748
Assets
$629,019
Liabilities
$15,813

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID ROJAS (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID ROJAS (CEO): $71,672 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Tackle the unemployment rates for young adults 16-24 by empowering them with the skills, experiences, and networks necessary to obtain meaningful careers and long term fulfillment.

What it reported doing in 2025

Arts and Culture Entrepreneurship - Grounded Studio, Moments Media, and Fiscal Sponsorships: Grounded Studio is TA98's creative and business incubator providing entrepreneurs with hands-on learning and access to tools, space, and networks required to grow their businesses. Moments Media is TA98's in-house digital storytelling division providing multi-media storytelling, strategic integrated marketing, and social media consulting to external clients, providing professional growth opportunities for young people who want to work in media. TA98 also served as fiscal sponsor for the production of Wicket, a documentary about breakdancing culture and personal acceptance.

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

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: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.9%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 70.8%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 29.3%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.08; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.3%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 39.7% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 41.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 40.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 49.9% of revenue deployed · 70.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $413K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 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: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.