American Legion Auxiliary National Headquarters

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
350144340
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3175694500
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,784,207
Expenses
$10,485,454
Assets
$69,838,671
Liabilities
$12,449,275

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

Leadership & pay

116 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PATRICIA B WARD (NATIONAL PRESIDENT)
  • LISA WILLIAMSON (NATIONAL PRESIDENT (TERM E)
  • PAMELA R RAY (NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SARA RIEGEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • TAMARA SHUMATE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA RIEGEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $164,225 total reported compensation
  • TAMARA SHUMATE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $149,911 total reported compensation
  • GARY WARD (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $149,089 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 mission of the american legion auxiliary (ala) is to support the american legion and honor the sacrifice of those who serve by enhancing the lives of veterans, military, and their families, both at home and abroad. For god and country we advocate for veterans, educate our citizens, mentor youth, and promote patriotism, good citizenship, peace and security. Ala members are the female and male spouses, grandmothers, mothers, sisters and direct adopted female descendants of members of the american legion. Some members are veterans themselves.

What it reported doing in 2024

Member and department supportthe ala supports its more than 545,000 members by providing guidance and information to advance the ala mission; addressing the needs of us veterans and military; communicating updates on national initiatives, legislation, and services that impact us veterans and military; access to member benefits and services; emergency assistance grants to members devastated by natural disasters and crises; awarding auxiliary scholarships; hosting national conventions, meetings, and other educational conferences; the national ala website; auxiliary magazine, social media posts, e- newsletters, brochures, and other ala media materials.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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. Some filed totals do not add up and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.4%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $31.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th 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: 99.4%; rating input score 99; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.8%; rating input score 97; 31st 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: 23.9%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.66; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.4% of revenue deployed · 73.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 61 of 63 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 116 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.