American Catholic Lawyers Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223114257
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2019, Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Fairfield, NJ, USA
Phone
9732449895
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,621
Expenses
$29,521
Assets
$95,894
Liabilities
$3,782

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER FERRARA ESQ (President)

People named in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER FERRARA ESQ (President)
  • JOHN OBRISKI (BOARD MEMBER)
  • DIANE M FERARA (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide free legal defense of the faith and the rights of catholics in america

What it reported doing in 2025

To help catholics in religious liberties litigation and to defend the catholic faith by lay apologetics and in public discourse. The association renders pro bono legal services in state & federal courts. It renders legal advice in religious liberties matters, engages in catholic apologetics & defends catholic teaching.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -538.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.25; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -12.2% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.2% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $30K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.