Animal Charity Evaluators
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 364684978
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
- Location
- Covina, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6193631402
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,801,617
- Expenses
- $6,340,574
- Assets
- $5,493,679
- Liabilities
- $397,058
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
People named in this filing
- RAVI MULANI (BOARD CHAIR)
- ZACHARY FREITAS-GROFF (VICE CHAIR)
- JOHN SEBER (Secretary)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to find and promote the most effective ways to help animals. To do this, we conduct annual charity evaluations and recommend the most effective animal charities. We also provide grants to build and strengthen animal advocacy movement.
What it reported doing in 2024
Meta fundraising: by guiding donors and securing contributions, ace helps channel resources toward the most effective animal advocacy efforts. We shared the achievements made by our recommended charities and movement grants recipients via sociacl media, emial, and in presentations. We encouraged people who want to help animals to donate to our recommended charity fund and movement grants. In total, we raised $2,746,559 for our recommended charity fund, $1,437,485 for movement grants, and $910,908 for individual recommended charities. This included running two successful maching campagins, unlocking $600,000 in funds from a legacy donor.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% of its reported program spending out as 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 63
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.6%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $57.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Pass
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 42nd 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: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 18.7%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.6% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 21 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 21 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.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.