American Legion Post 171

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
526077915
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Damascus, MD, USA
Phone
3012530769
Rating
39
Verdict
REVIEW
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$159,210
Expenses
$172,878
Assets
$1,149,586
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Anita Trotter (Commander): $2,415 total reported compensation
  • Mike Wright (Executive Committee Member & Maintenance Lead): $800 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Assist needy and disabled veteran, provide entertainment, care, and assistance to hospitalized veterans, perpetuate the memory of veterans, and comfort their survivors. Sponsor patriotic activities, support youth activtities, community, and Post members. Promote social welfare of the community, and provide social and recreational activities for the membership.

What it reported doing in 2024

Youth programs: to include 6 college Scholarship grants of $1500 or $2000. Post also hosts annual Constitutional Speech Contest with cash awards to the 1, 2, and 3rd place winners. Also supported Boy's State participation and presented patriotism awards to local schools. Additionally, sponsored boys little-league baseball team. Provided space for local Boy Scouts Troop to hold meetings. Sponsored Eagle Scout project for member of this troop.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 93% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

REVIEW - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 17.8%; rating input score 18; 38th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.6%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.65; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 33.8% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $29K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 11 of 13 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.