NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

Legal name: Naacp Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc

Overview

Mission

To achieve racial justice, equality, and an inclusive society by ensuring the full enjoyment of civil and political rights for all people, particularly Black communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The herbert lehman program offers grants, generally of $3,000 annually to u.s. Citizen undergraduates and $15,000 annually to u.s. Citizen law students. Preference is given to persons who are entering the first year of full-time study. This scholarship can be renewed three times for undergrad law student and two times for graduate law students. The marshall-motley scholarship program offers law students' full tuition, internship opportunities and bar exam preparation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131655255
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
New York, NY, US
Phone
(212)-965-2200
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Minority Rights

Official website

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: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 67.3%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.4%; rating input score 99; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96%; rating input score 96; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.8; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 10 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 79.1% of revenue deployed · 67.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $42.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $655K · 38 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.7M reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 44 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 22 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 9 filed related-organization links
  • 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

38 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JANAI NELSON (PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR-COUNSEL): $654,993 total reported compensation
  • TONA BOYD (ASSOC. DIR. COUNSEL UNTIL DEC. 2024): $432,674 total reported compensation
  • CLAUDE JOHNSON (CHIEF DEVEL. OFFICER UNTIL AUG. 2025): $399,260 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.