Transom Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862996244
IRS 990-PF coverage
2021–2021
Forms available
Form 990-PF 2021
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
8477393150
Rating
42
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Corporate Foundations

Reported finances

Revenue
$500
Expenses
$275

Source: IRS Form 990-PF. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Overview

Mission

Corporate Foundations

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the foundation's positive operating resources came from contributions.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no charitable disbursements for the current year.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of spending goes to grants. Assets provide a limited cushion relative to annual grants and the available information about grant readiness automatic revocation leaves an important question unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Grant Deployment: NotEnoughData
  • Cost Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency: NotEnoughData
  • Compliance: 100
  • Endowment Health: 41

Detailed rating inputs

Grant Deployment

  • Grant deployment ratio: Limited

Cost Efficiency

  • Grant expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency

  • Grant recipient disclosure: Limited

Compliance

  • Part VII-B activity disclosures: 19 of 19 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Property sale or exchange with a disqualified person: Pass
    • Borrowing from or lending to a disqualified person: Pass
    • Goods, services, or facilities involving a disqualified person: Pass
    • Compensation paid to a disqualified person: Pass
    • Assets transferred to a disqualified person: Pass
    • Payment to a government official: Pass
    • Uncorrected prior self-dealing: Pass
    • Prior-year undistributed income: Pass
    • Excess business holdings: Pass
    • Investments that may jeopardize charitable purposes: Pass
    • Uncorrected prior-year jeopardizing investments: Pass
    • Attempt to influence legislation: Pass
    • Attempt to influence an election: Pass
    • Grants to individuals: Pass
    • Grants to organizations: Pass
    • Spending for a noncharitable purpose: Pass
    • Funds received for a personal-benefit contract: Pass
    • Premiums paid on a personal-benefit contract: Pass
    • Prohibited tax-shelter transaction: Pass
  • Filing consistency checks: 7; rating input score 100

Endowment Health

  • Endowment-health comparison: 0.9; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Payout: Filed payout detail
  • Trustees: Filed trustees detail
  • Self-dealing: 100% of reviewed questions answered “No”
  • Investments: 41th percentile for endowment coverage
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Endowment Health: Endowment-health comparison scored 41/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.