New Hampshire Legal Assistance Inc

Overview

Mission

To provide civil legal aid to people with low income and older (age 60 and up) adults.

What it reported doing in 2025

Nh legal assistance (nhla) provides civil legal aid to people with low income and older (age 60 and up) adults. During 2025, nhla closed 763 cases. Overall, nhla helped 3,080 people, including clients, clients' household members and people who received referrals. Nhla focuses our efforts on cases involving clients' most basic needs, including housing, subsistence income, access to health care, and safety from domestic violence. More information is available on our website, www.nhla.org.

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 94% 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
020300897
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Headquarters
Concord, NH, USA
Phone
6032244107
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 46th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.8%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.6%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 81.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $172K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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

26 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH MATTSON DUSTIN (EXECUTIVE DI): $171,536 total reported compensation
  • KAY DROUGHT (ATTORNEY): $148,753 total reported compensation
  • LORI WAMSER (CONTROLLER): $147,610 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2025.