American Jewish Society for Service Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
136144216
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2016
Official website data refreshed
Jun 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
Bethesda, MD, USA
Phone
3016646400
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Community Service Clubs
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$351,812
Expenses
$534,839
Assets
$269,310
Liabilities
$20,093

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER SHEINGOLD (PRESIDENT/CHAIR)

People named in this filing

  • PETER SHEINGOLD (PRESIDENT/CHAIR)
  • JESS MINNEN (VICE CHAIR)
  • ELLEN QUINT (SECRETARTY)

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 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To build leaders by inspiring volunteers to put their jewish values into action while providing service to communities in need.

What it reported doing in 2016

Ajss operates teenage summer service projects and school-year partnerships with schools, camps and synagogues to inspire teens to put jewish values into action by providing service to communities in need across the united states.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 66.1%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th 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: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -52%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -10.7% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 66.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $354K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2010 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.