Agudath Israel of America

Overview

Mission

Agudath Israel of America is the arm and voice of American Orthodox Jewry, advocating for its constituents at federal, state, and local levels, and providing social, educational, and youth services. COPE Education Services –** provides culturally sensitive business and technical training in bookkeeping, accounting, and related fields. The Fresh Start Program –** an employment readiness program for displaced homemakers who, due to changing family circumstances, require training to re-enter the workforce. Professional Career Services (PCS) –** a job placement and education organization. The education arm offers courses and degree programs in accounting, software and web development, real estate, property management, Amazon sales, online marketing, and IT and networking. It has graduated close to 2,000 CPA candidates over the past 15 years.

What it reported doing in 2023

Youth activities: to foster the strenghtening of jewish heritage and values by providing various torah programs, after-school and weekend activies, and supervised services and extra curricular programs for thousands of jewish youngsters throughout the united states.emergency relief and assistance: to provide financial as well as moral and therapeutic assistance to those suffering hardships as a result of catastrophic occurences including illness, loss of income, natural disasters and other circumstances creating economic difficulties.international relief and assistance: to provide financial and moral assistance to thousands of needy jewish families throughout the world, including food packages, informational resources, religious and educational training and other forms of assistance.educational and employment activities: each year thousands are provided with vocational counseling, emotional support, referrals and job training in order to prepare these individuals to earn a meaningful livelihood thereby enabling them to support their families and become productive members of society. Specific emphasis is placed on those who have lost their job due to company downsizing or mergers as a result of the depressed economic environment.torah projects.agudath israel's torah projects programs provide tens of thousands in the broad jewish community, and numerous agudath israel synagogues throughout the country, with a wealth of religious and educational opportunities.included are lectures by well-known torah personalities, study programs in jewish law and culture, religious services, forums for strengthening torah values and practice in community life, and grants to other groups and organizations whose religious, educational and charitable programs are consistent with the goals of the organization which is primarily and foremost to perpetuate jewish religious practices and observance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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
135604164
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2023
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Headquarters
New York, NY, US
Phone
212.797.9000
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.5%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.9%; rating input score 98; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.91; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.49; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 87.5% of revenue deployed · 75% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 60 of 60 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $21.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $408K · 68 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $754K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 34 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2009 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 32 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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

68 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • YITZCHOK EHRMAN (COO): $407,899 total reported compensation
  • MOSHE DANZGER (CFO): $334,864 total reported compensation
  • DAVID ZWIEBEL (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $323,226 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2023.