Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation

Overview

Mission

MLAC’s mission is to provide leadership and support to improve legal aid in Massachusetts through collaboration with the legal services community, the public, the bar, and the legislature. The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC) is the largest funding source for civil legal aid organizations in Massachusetts. MLAC also provides leadership and support for the continued improvement of legal aid to low-income people statewide through its initiatives. MLAC was established by the Commonwealth in 1983 to ensure that low-income people with critical non-criminal legal problems would have access to legal information, advice and representation. Our Mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mlac was awarded, as a coordinated statewide administration of civil legal services (csal), a grant from the Massachusetts office for victim assistance (mova). This is a contract that is funded through victims of crime act (voca) funding. The purposes of this grant is to implement the Massachusetts civil legal aid to victims of crime initiative (clavc) to expand the capacity of legal services programs (the programs) in the state to provide legal assistance to victims of crime with civil legal aid issues related to their victimization, including in particular those crime victims referred by mova. Mlac will serve as recipient for clavc grant. It will exercise appropriate oversight, implement fiscal control, carry out reporting, and make sub grants to the programs to fulfill the obligations according to the contract terms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 96% of its reported program spending out as grants.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042790762
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Website reviewed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Boston, MA, USA
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

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The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Available reserves provide a limited financial cushion and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 96.5%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Public policy transparency: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
  • Public financial transparency: 1 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 20
  • Impact reporting controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
  • Public relationship transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Public governance controls: 1 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 0.31; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 91.9% of revenue deployed · 96.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $75.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $293K · 20 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Money network: 29 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 21 filed related-organization links