The Jewish Federation of Nwi Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
350888766
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Munster, IN, USA
Phone
2193010960
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,013,226
Expenses
$1,028,420
Assets
$12,169,665
Liabilities
$262,163

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR MARK SPERLING (PRESIDENT)
  • CAROL CULBERG (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MARILYN HIRSCH (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • BARRY LEVIN (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • JANINE ROTHSCHILD (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LAURIE YOUNG (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • EMILY BENEDIX (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - FORMER): $92,200 total reported compensation
  • VICTORIA ODEGAARD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $70,296 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Enriching jewish life in northwest Indiana, in israel and around the world through service, programming, advocacy and fundraising.

What it reported doing in 2025

Jewish community services represents resources made available for the servicing of individuals and families as the need arises. These services include food assistance, peer support grief groups, emergency utility and housing assistance through financial support, senior support services and referral services to other community agencies.

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 97% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 59.5%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $238.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 94.3%; rating input score 94; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.5%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.83; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.8%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 59.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $612K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $92K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.