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LADDER UP

EIN 36-4070692 CHICAGO, IL

Revenue 2023
$3,985,966
Expenses 2023
$2,337,666

Program services were 82.2% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
B99
Classification
1000
Street
350 N ORLEANS STREET SUITE C2-100

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2023

Mission

THE ORGANIZATION HELPS LOW-INCOME FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS ACCESS THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES THEY NEED TO CLIMB UP THE ECONOMIC LADDER. THE ORGANIZATION OFFERS FREE TAX PREPARATION, FINANCIAL AID AND FINANCIAL EDUCATION SERVICES.

Activities or mission (Part I)

THE ORGANIZATION OFFERS FREE TAX PREPARATION, FINANCIAL AID AND FINANCIAL EDUCATION SERVICES.

  • TAX ASSISTANCE PROGRAM:LADDER UP OPERATES ONE OF THE LARGEST AND OLDEST STATE-WIDE VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS OF ITS KIND, OFFERING BOTH IN-PERSON AND DIGITAL SERVICES TO OVER 15,000 INDIVIDUALS ACROSS ILLINOIS. LADDER UP PROVIDES FAMILIES WITH FREE, HIGH-QUALITY TAX PREPARATION AND AN ALTERNATIVE TO PAID TAX PREPARERS.

    Expenses $1,594,371

  • LOW-INCOME TAX CLINIC:LADDER UP PROVIDES FREE, HIGH QUALITY PROFESSIONAL REPRESSENTATION TO LOW-INCOME TAX PAYERS FACING AN IRS OR IDOR CONTROVERSY. THROUGH ITS OFFICES, LADDER UP OFFERS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH ON THE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT, STIMULUS PAYMENTS, ADVANCE CHILD TAX CREDITS, TAXPAYER RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES AND COLLECTION ALTERNATIVES. THE TAX CLINIC DELIVERS NEARLY HALF A MILLION DOLLARS IN DECREASED LIABILITIES TO OUR CLIENTS EACH YEAR.

    Expenses $261,024

  • FINANCIAL CAPABILITY PROGRAM:LADDER UP PROVIDES YEAR-ROUND WORKSHOPS, COORDINATES SAVINGS CAMPAIGNS, AND OFFERS FINANCIAL COACHING TO HELP CLIENTS SET FINANCIAL GOALS AND MANAGE MAJOR LIFE FINANCIAL EVENTS. IN ADDITION TO THIS, LADDER UP HIGHLY VALUES AND SUPPORTS ITS FREE APPLICATION TRAINING FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) AND COMPLETION WORKSHOPS AT HIGH SCHOOLS FOR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS.

    Expenses $65,611

As filed on the 2023 return.

Officers and directors · 2023

As listed in Part VII of the 2023 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • ROBERT M BURKE

    CHAIRMAN & CEO

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • JOHN CHANDLER

    VICE PRESIDENT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • MARK SNEIDER

    CO-FOUNDER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • SR MARY PAUL MCCAUGHEY

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • MERCEDES WILLIAMS

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • PHYLLIS CAVALLONE

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU 09/16/24)

    Total calculated
    $126,503
    From this org
    $122,131
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $4,372
    Hours/week
    40 + 1 related

  • KATRINA MCDERMOTT

    DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMI

    Total calculated
    $126,157
    From this org
    $121,795
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $4,362
    Hours/week
    40 + 1 related

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2023
    Revenue
    $3,985,966
    Expenses
    $2,337,666
    Contributions
    $3,854,519
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $2,870,525
    Expenses
    $2,363,936
    Contributions
    $2,621,118
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,908,523
    Expenses
    $2,417,943
    Assets (EOY)
    $3,814,683

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,763,409
    Expenses
    $2,508,882
    Assets (EOY)
    $3,911,753

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,961,364
    Expenses
    $2,926,981
    Assets (EOY)
    $3,315,590

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,411,164
    Expenses
    $1,217,605
    Assets (EOY)
    $2,269,277

  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,361,539
    Expenses
    $1,200,505
    Assets (EOY)
    $2,021,119

  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,351,832
    Expenses
    $1,105,075
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,878,993

  • 2014 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,235,404
    Expenses
    $1,300,619
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,672,255

  • 2013 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,310,217
    Expenses
    $1,225,701
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,768,197

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Taxable family

From Schedule R Parts I, III and IV: entities that legally are the filer, and taxable partnerships, corporations and trusts it is related to. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money.

Disregarded entities on its 2023 return

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 29 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2023, the newest we have parsed for this organization.