The Yard Foundation
Legal name: The Yard Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 872505693
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021
- Location
- Chicago, IL, US
- Phone
- 7734471057
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Victims' Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,592,479
- Expenses
- $1,485,223
- Assets
- $166,370
- Liabilities
- $2,088
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Amy Reed (Vice President Secretary)
- John McClement (Chief Executive Officer President)
Highest reported compensation
- Amy Reed (Vice President Secretary): $32,382 total reported compensation
- Tony Di Novo (Chief Relationship Officer): $8,335 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 be the best charity for firefighters and their families. We provide funding and assistance to first responders facing illness, injury, or loss.
What it reported doing in 2024
Crowdfunding programs and events to contribute to certain firefighters, their families or other charitable causes that need financial assistance.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% of its reported program spending out as grants.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 72
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.9%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: $0.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 77.5%; rating input score 77; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 59.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 70.7% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 76.7% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 86.9% of revenue deployed · 93.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 23 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 2/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.