Alley Cat Rescue Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
522279100
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brentwood, MD, USA
Phone
3012775595
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,281,075
Expenses
$2,776,899
Assets
$3,132,299
Liabilities
$187,523

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Louise Holton (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Louise Holton (President): $95,093 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

ACRs programs promote better care for community cats through trap-neuter-return. Local programs include placing unwanted cats in new homes, running a low-cost spay/neuter clinic, and providing support for local feral cat caretakers. Nationally we operate a network of CAT ACTION TEAMS across the U.S. Our May Spay Challenge has developed a national network of veterinarians offering free or low-cost TNR services. ACR's mission is to lead the way for humane care for all cats.

What it reported doing in 2024

Advocacy & promoting spay/neuter acr works to put an end to the myths and misinformation surrounding feral and stray cats, who are often used as scapegoats for complex environmental problems such as habitat loss causing the depletion of bird and other wildlife populations. Acr promotes the concept that all animals deserve respect and compassion, and that humane, non-lethal methods for controlling their populations, such as tnr, should be used. All acrs mailings include calls to action that will aid in safeguarding the health and lives of cats, as well as information to help reduce the human impact on birds and wildlife. Acr spearheads an annual global feral cat sterilization initiative, the feral fix challenge, which urges veterinarians to offer free or low-cost spay and neuter surgeries for feral cats, to whatever degree is possible for their individual practice. This campaign brings national attention to the need for tnr and also advances the humane management of cat overpopulation.acr also gives financial support to organizations that practice tnr in other states and countries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 88.6%; rating input score 89; 25th 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.4%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.3% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 6 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $911K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 37 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.