American Civil Liberties Union

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237095474
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Charleston, WV, USA
Phone
3043459246
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$272,021
Expenses
$123,497
Assets
$866,861
Liabilities
$1,528

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANNE FARMER (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • CATHEY C SAWYER (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • MORGAN FOWLER (BOARD MEMBER)
  • QUENTON ANTHONY KING (BOARD MEMBER)
  • LIETTA GOINS (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. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The american civil liberties union of West Virginia (aclu-wv) is a non-partisan, non-profit membership organization whose mission is to fulfill the promise of the bill of rights for all west virginians and expand the reach of its guarantees to new areas.

What it reported doing in 2024

Successful lobbying against death penalty legislation; successful public pressure against medicaid cuts; active tracking of hundreds of pieces of statewide legislation

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 38.4%; rating input score 38
  • Program expense ratio: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 54.6%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.02; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.1% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 38.4% of revenue deployed · 81.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $101K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.