Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action

Legal name: Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action Inc

Overview

Mission

JALSA puts our Jewish values into action by engaging the Jewish community and our allies in the pursuit of social, economic, environmental, and racial justice.

What it reported doing in 2024

Civil rights, civil liberties, and social justice issues education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% 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.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010563874
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
(617) 227 3000
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.3%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 64.5%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 21.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.69; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.9%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 51.3% of revenue deployed · 64.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $782K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 34 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • CINDY ROWE (CEO): $192,509 total reported compensation
  • TAMAR LEWIS (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $121,951 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.