The Beacon Place NFP

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461578189
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Waukegan, IL, USA
Phone
8474975787
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$887,284
Expenses
$1,065,988
Assets
$1,304,582
Liabilities
$49,922

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Maha Worden (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Maha Worden (Executive Director): $159,939 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire and guide our neighborhoods children and families toward a brighter tomorrow.

What it reported doing in 2025

Beacon Place served more than 150 families through year-round academic, enrichment, and family support programs, providing over 7,000 hours of instruction and services to youth from kindergarten through 12th grade. The organization supported academic achievement, college and career readiness, outdoor leadership, physical wellness, and social-emotional development through programs such as Education Enrichment, LAUNCH, Chicago Voyagers, and summer learning initiatives. In addition to educational programming, Beacon Place addressed food insecurity by distributing 783 lunches, 460 food backpacks, more than 6,300 pounds of food, 1,300 pounds of fresh produce, and 180 grocery bags to families in need. Family engagement remained a key focus, with the Moms Program expanding by 30 and participants contributing over 400 volunteer hours. Eight college-bound seniors graduated and received support with tutoring, financial aid applications, college visits, and financial literacy education. 300 volunteers contributed 2,792 service hours, generating an estimated labor value exceeding 100,000.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.5%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 64th 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: Pass
    • 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: -20.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.22; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.5% of revenue deployed · 72.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $771K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $160K · 7 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.