Uptown People's Law Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363060933
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7737691411
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,309,768
Expenses
$1,777,620
Assets
$1,771,990
Liabilities
$85,835

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gregory McConnell (President)
  • Kate Walz (Executive Director (New))
  • Allan Mills (Executive Director (Past))
  • Kim Bobo (Interim Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Allan Mills (Executive Director (Past)): $117,300 total reported compensation
  • Nicole Schult (Manager): $105,603 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 establish, administer & promote programs providing legal aid to indigent persons, assisting community residents in obtaining legal services and benefits, and educating & training residents, paraprofessionals, and community attorneys.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide comprehensive neighborhood-based legal services for residents of Chicago's Uptown area and surrounding communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 23%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60% of revenue deployed · 76.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.