Willow Wood Preschool

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362656049
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Winnetka, IL, USA
Phone
8474416393
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,110,661
Expenses
$921,514
Assets
$3,311,428
Liabilities
$944,732

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LIBBY SPLITHOFF (PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN CORNELO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN CORNELO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $123,550 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 provide a warm, nuturing environment for young children to develop socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually under the guidance of a staff that is highly experienced in the field of child development.

What it reported doing in 2024

Children's preschool programs

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.6%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
  • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: 17%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.59; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.4%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.6% of revenue deployed · 88.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $813K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $124K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.