American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
436070952
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3146523114
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,286,478
Expenses
$3,178,703
Assets
$8,519,196
Liabilities
$406,631

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRENDAN DONELON (PRESIDENT)
  • LUZ MARIA HENRIQUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KATHRYN HINNERS-MUELLER (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LUZ MARIA HENRIQUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $161,480 total reported compensation
  • KATHRYN HINNERS-MUELLER (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $130,720 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our non-profit, non-partisan law firm's mission is to defend and extend civil liberties, to achieve the promise of equality and liberty for all in Missouri, through impact litigation and campaigns, narrative and legislative advocacy, and community education and engagement.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024 our affiliate continued the fight for the rights of transgender individuals, specifically the ban on gender affirming medical care for minors and the ban on medicaid funding for that same care for minors and adults, with an appeal to the Missouri supreme court. We continued our work to protect the fundamental right to vote in Missouri with two appeals to the Missouri supreme court in cases challenging the strict photo id law as well as laws restricting speech related to voting. We fought in court to undo decades of restrictions on abortion care in our efforts to enforce the right to reproductive freedom initiative (passed in november 2024) and we sued to protect the constitutional right to use marijuana while on probation in Missouri. We concluded our school-to-prison pipeline initiative in the hayti school district which focused on community engagement around making changes to district discipline policies. In addition, our director of policy and campaigns was named the Missouri lawyer of the year by Missouri lawyers media.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 64% for direct work, and 36% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 3.3%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.68; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.2% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 10 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.