Charity Navigator's ratings previously did not consider Leadership & Adaptability, Culture & Community, or Impact & Measurement. The historic rating mainly reflects a version of today’s Accountability and Finance score. More information on our previous rating methodologies can be found on our rating methodology page.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
Majority Independent Board Members - 0% independent members
0 out of 10 points
Industry professionals strongly recommend an independent governing body to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters. We check to see that a majority of board members are identified as independent on their tax form.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Board Size - 0 independent members
0 out of 10 points
Industry professionals strongly recommend an independent governing body to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters. For most organizations, we check to see if the organization has at least three independent board members. For large, donor-funded organizations, we check to see if the organization has at least five independent board members
Source: IRS Form 990
Material Diversion of Assets - None
10 out of 10 points
A diversion of assets — any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft — also can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity. We review the charity's most recent IRS Form 990 to see if the charity has reported any diversion of assets.
Source: IRS Form 990
Tax Form Disclosures and Policies
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Website Listed on Tax Form - Listed
3 out of 3 points
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy - Missing
0 out of 7 points
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy - Missing
0 out of 7 points
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction - Missing
0 out of 7 points
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Documents Board Meeting Minutes - No
0 out of 3 points
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the IRS Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Website Disclosures
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Form 990 indicates tax form is available on nonprofit's website - No
0 out of 3 points
For almost all charities, we check the charity's IRS Form 990 to see if it discloses that the Form 990 is available on the charity's website. As with the audited financial statement, donors need easy access to this financial report to help determine if the organization is managing its financial resources well.
Source: IRS Form 990
Financial Metrics
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Liabilities to Assets Ratio: 0.00%
15 out of 15 points
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent IRS Form 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization's solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Ratio: 100.00%
25 out of 25 points
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three IRS Forms 990). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
Source: IRS Form 990
Additional Information
Total Revenue and Expenses - Data Available
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Click or hover over the bar to see exact $ amount
Salary of Key Persons - Data Available
The compensation data below shows the five highest paid individuals at this charity. The amount includes salary, cash bonuses, and compensation from related organizations. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2.
Heather Hilz, President & Ceo
$0
Daniel Fitzgerald, Secretary
$0
Lindsey Hilz, Cfo
$0
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2024
IRS Published Data (Business Master File) - Data Available
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
Data Sources (IRS Forms 990) - Data Available
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage accountability and finance data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (Lucky Chi Dog Rescue) or EIN (900887464) in the 'Search Term' field.
Impact & Measurement
Score
82
This beacon estimates the actual impact a charity has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
The Measuring Outcomes assessment evaluates how well a charity tracks progress towards its mission's outcomes.
Displayed below are the responses provided by the charity for the Measuring Outcomes assessment. Each question is designed to address specific criteria, with responses eligible for full, partial, or no credit. Please refer to the scoring rubric for details on how responses are scored.
Selected program: Lucky Chi Dog Rescue - Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic, Submitted September 2025
Program Planning and Design
21 out of 21 points
This section assesses the use of crucial evaluation tools in program objective-setting and activities.
Charity leadership uses information collected to make decisions regarding programs
Agree, uses information collected to improve programs
Charity has shared understanding across staff of how programs lead to the goals a program achieves
Agree, has universal understanding of how programs achieve goals
Charity has documents and reviews how program activities lead to change
Agree, documents and reviews
Charity revisits how program activities lead to change
Agree, does revisit how program activities lead to change
Program Development
24 out of 28 points
This section assesses the consideration of stakeholders in program objectives and activities.
Charity identifies program target population needs in the following ways
Discussions with local community groups, including local government or other community leaders
Discussions with local nonprofits on their programs
Charity considers practical, cultural, and political needs and interests of those served by program
Agree, charity is responsive to practical, cultural, and political needs
Charity uses SMART Goals
Agree, identified Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound (SMART) goals
Data Collection and Analysis
13 out of 21 points
This section assesses the best practices used in collecting and analyzing program data.
Charity tracks program information in the following ways
Collects data when a program is complete
Charity collects programmatic information on those served by the program in the following ways
Identifies the number of those successfully served by the program
Collects information about the quality of service from the target population
Charity assesses program effectiveness at multiple points in time
Agree, collects information before and after a program is implemented
Reporting and Distribution of Results
21 out of 21 points
This section assesses reporting and disseminating program results.
Charity reports program results to key stakeholders
Reports results to stakeholders
Charity reports both favorable and unfavorable results
Yes, charity reports both favorable of unfavorable results
Use of Results
4 out of 10 points
This section assesses the use of results to guide learning.
Charity uses program results to inform future work for the following reasons
Sustain and secure funding
Improve program operations
Culture & Community
Score
100
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves.
This assessment, developed by the Irritants for Change, evaluates how a charity listens to and uses feedback from the people meant to ultimately benefit from its mission. Seeking feedback from the people a charity serves makes the nonprofit more responsive and effective.
Collects Feedback
25 out of 25 points
Does your organization collect feedback (i.e., perceptions, opinions, concerns) from the people meant to ultimately benefit from your mission?
Yes
Uses Feedback
25 out of 25 points
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations
To inform the development of new programs/projects
To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
To understand client needs and how we can help them achieve their desired outcomes
Implements Quality Feedback Practices
25 out of 25 points
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible
We act on the feedback we receive
Experiences Feedback Challenges
25 out of 25 points
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Leadership & Adaptability
Score
100
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission.
Lucky Chi Dog Rescue is a passionate 501c3 non-profit dedicated to prevent the suffering of homeless, neglected and abandoned animals from euthanasia, as well as finding them loving forever homes. Our motto is "Spay/Neuter/Vaccinate/Repeat", and we encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters.
Vision Statement
10 out of 10 points
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's vision.
Prevent animal suffering and euthanasia while providing them with loving homes.
Strategic Goals
20 out of 20 points
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Encouraging and use of funds towards Spay & Neuters
Leadership
30 out of 30 points
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Investment in Leadership Development
15 out of 15 points
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development.
Lucky Chi Dog Rescue is working towards gaining a greater non-profit presence and system in order to gain awareness of our cause. Not only are we investing in conferences offered to us to gain a better sense of the impact social media can have on our promotion, but a part of what we do is ensuring that animals we adopt out are set up for success in a stable and loving forever home. In order to do this, we invest in training to get the animals adopted, so that they can not only get adopted, but stay adopted. This also provides new owners with a point of reference should they want to continue training in the future.
External Focus on Mobilizing Mission
15 out of 15 points
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Social Promotion
Adaptability
30 out of 30 points
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Adaptability Practices
30 out of 30 points
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year
The decrease in COVID outbreaks has brought about many changes worldwide, as well as the animal welfare environment. Projects are ramping up as well as the need for even more rescue and spay & neuter efforts. In order to combat these changes and stay ahead of the curve, Lucky Chi has been more diligent and proactive with not only its budget and expenses, but also with it's emphasis on spreading awareness of the mission we have. Recently, we've implanted new budgeting strategies including 990 research on organizations similar to ours to gain understandings of where we can improve and what organizations we could potentially help support. Furthermore, we have made great strides in our social media which has been used to not only spread awareness of the work we do, but it also allows us to help get our rescues and fosters adopted to loving homes. However, we don't just want this dogs to be adopted. We are looking for long-term, long-lasting homes and this is done through our efforts to increase funding towards training programs within the shelters we work directly with. We hope to make even more strides in our mission this upcoming year and are already excited with the progress we've continued to make.