Abolitionist Law Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462132412
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone
4126549070
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Interest Law

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,097,199
Expenses
$3,293,790
Assets
$3,858,228
Liabilities
$56,986

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMELIA MORGAN (PRESIDENT)
  • JULES LOBEL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT HOLBROOK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT HOLBROOK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $115,812 total reported compensation
  • BRET GROTE (LEGAL DIRECTOR): $110,340 total reported compensation
  • ALISSA DEPIRO (SECRETARY/FINANCE DIRECTOR): $86,620 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Legal services & public interest law.

What it reported doing in 2024

Environmental & health rights - this program aims to expose the dangerously poor healthcare in the prisons, and to force prison authorities to improve it. It also aims to shutdown prisons that are built in areas that expose prisoners to environmental toxins that negatively impact their health. Our work here is focused on an investigation of a prison built next to a coal ash dump, contesting the sufficiency of an environmental impact statement for a proposed prison in Kentucky, working to get hepatitis c positive prisoners cured, and working to improve health conditions at the allegheny county jail. We had nine cases litigated as part of this program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.3%; rating input score 49
  • Program expense ratio: 60.1%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.92 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.2%; rating input score 97; 33rd 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; 63rd 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: 19.6%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.17; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.8% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.3% of revenue deployed · 60.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 49/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.