American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942151925
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4156212493
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,584,433
Expenses
$6,148,837
Assets
$18,051,936
Liabilities
$198,093

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

Leadership & pay

45 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PHYLLIDA BURLINGAME (LEGAL-POLICY DIR.): $413,453 total reported compensation
  • ABDI SOLTANI (Executive Dir.): $369,484 total reported compensation
  • SHILPI AGARWAL (LEGAL-POLICY DIR): $341,240 total reported compensation

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 northern California (aclu nc union) defends and advances the principles of freedom, equality and justice contained in the united states constitution. Aclu nc union, a California mutual benefit corporation described in section 501(c)(4), conducts legislative, community action and education programs in order to protect and defend civil liberties and civil rights.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community and civic engagement - through trainings, campaigns, voter education and public education, aclu nc union supports californians to defend and advance civil liberties. Aclu nc union also supports a network of chapters that are active throughout northern California. Aclu nc union operates from its offices in san francisco as well as in fresno and sacramento that serve the California central valley. Issue priorities include: 1) criminal justice reform, including policing, 2) democracy and civic engagement, including voting rights, 3) gender, sexuality and reproductive justice, 4) immigrants rights, 5) racial and economic justice, including housing, education equity and indigenous justice, and 6) technology and civil liberties. In addition, aclu nc union made grants to aclu California action for state policy work.aclu nc union completed a strategic planning process to define priorities for the period from 2025-2029.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 51% for direct work, and 49% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.4%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: Limited
  • 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: 35.8%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.94; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.4% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 38 of 38 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $413K · 45 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.