The Joseph Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364175789
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Forest Park, IL, USA
Phone
7086976200
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Recreational Centers
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,315,160
Expenses
$3,308,863
Assets
$1,826,214
Liabilities
$191,001

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DELORIS THOMAS (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT AND COO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DELORIS THOMAS (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT AND COO): $234,200 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA DUFF BROWN (DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS SERVICES): $137,906 total reported compensation
  • ARTHUR R THOMAS (DEAN OF ONLINE JBS): $110,283 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To teach new entrepreneurs the details of starting and managing a successful business.

What it reported doing in 2024

Business & professional development: the joseph center for business development (jcbd) offers a full range of programs and services designed to train, nurture, and support entrepreneurs in starting and running a successful business, as well as workers and professionals who are the engine of the economy. Jcbd encompasses three major programs. 1. Business development program, which provides workshops and courses in areas such as business start-up and planning, financing, and intellectual property, to develop knowledge and understanding in order to more effectively manage/operate their businesses. 2. Continuing education & professional development (cepd) which offers technology training, career development courses and general education development (ged) courses, all designed to assist adults in acquiring skills necessary for career advancement, better paying jobs, etc. Cepd also hosts an annual job fair that provides opportunities for up to 1,000 attendees. 3. Illinois small business development center (sbdc) at the joseph center, which is funded by the sba and provides business consulting, networking opportunities and training programs to assist entrepreneurs in improving business performance, productivity and profitability.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th 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: 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: 0.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.7% of revenue deployed · 78.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $234K · 8 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.