Spero Family Services

Legal name: United Methodist Childrens Home of Southern Il Inc Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
371355748
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2014
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2014
Location
Mt. Vernon, IL, United States
Phone
618-242-1070
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$638,069
Expenses
$720,868
Assets
$1,875,343
Liabilities
$34,842

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • DICK DEITZ (Director)
  • LIANNE WATSON (Director)
  • STEVEN SCOTT (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Spero Family Services (formerly The United Methodist Childrens Home) offers hope, help, and healing to individuals and families throughout Southern Illinois through Christ-centered human services; although it is faith-based, programs are open to people meeting service criteria without discrimination regardless of faith or denominational background.

What it reported doing in 2014

Expenses related to providing support to the united methodist children's home of southern Illinois, inc.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.5%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.6; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 56.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $710K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2011 to 2014
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.