American Bar Association

Overview

Mission

The American Bar Association is one of the world's largest voluntary professional organizations, with nearly 400,000 members. Its mission is to serve equally its members, the legal profession, and the public by defending liberty and delivering justice as the national representative of the legal profession.

What it reported doing in 2024

The ABA provides lawyers unparalleled opportunities for professional growth and service through numerous groups dedicated to specific areas of law. The Association currently has 22 Sections, which range in size from about 1,000 members to more than 40,000 7 divisions and 6 forums. All of these groups draw their membership from lawyers, judges, academics, law students and associate members with common interests. Sections include the following legal areas Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Antitrust Law Business Law Criminal Justice Dispute Resolution Environment, Energy and Resources Family Law Health Law Civil Rights and Social Justice Intellectual Property Law International Law Labor and Employment Law Legal Education Litigation Public Contract Law Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Science and Technology Law State, Local, and Tribal Government Law Taxation Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice. Continued on Sch O

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 83% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
360723150
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2009
Headquarters
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3129885000
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

The verdict

- This form does not report enough financial and governance detail to rate the organization. That is normal for this form and is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 99
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 74.5%; rating input score 74; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.7%; rating input score 98; 52nd 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: 16.6%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.22; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.52; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 18 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 43 of 44 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $807K · 60 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.2M reported
  • Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 49 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 40 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Leadership & pay

60 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Alpha M Brady (Executive Director): $807,170 total reported compensation
  • Holly O Cook (Sr Assoc Exec Dir-Govt Affairs and PIL): $431,273 total reported compensation
  • William K Phelan (Sr Assoc. Executive Director and CFO): $429,191 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.