Animal Welfare League of Arlington
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 540603502
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Arlington, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7039319241
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,564,401
- Expenses
- $5,494,891
- Assets
- $8,237,622
- Liabilities
- $413,686
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Samuel Wolbert (President/CEO to 12/24)
- Lauren Lipsey (President/CEO as of 12/24)
Highest reported compensation
- Samuel Wolbert (President/CEO to 12/24): $168,706 total reported compensation
- Amy Schindler (Chief Operations Officer): $150,914 total reported compensation
- Ryan Snow (Veterinary Director): $133,112 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Improving the lives of animals and people by providing resources, care, and protection.
What it reported doing in 2024
Shelter Operations - the League serves as an animal shelter for Arlington County, VA and accepts any animal regardless of condition from within Arlington County. We also accept other animals from outside of Arlington County when we have the space to do so. The League has a contract with the City of Falls Church to provide the same services. Some of the animals we help are lost pets that are reunited with their owners; some are given up by owners who could no longer care for them; some are found abandoned and others were transferred to us by other rescue partners. We also take in wildlife that may be injured, orphaned or trapped and in many cases are rehabilitated and returned to the wild. The League adopts dogs, cats and small companion animals. In FY25, the League's positive outcome rate for companion animals is 95%.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.8%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 69.5%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 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: 1.2%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.5; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.7%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 69.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 17 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 11/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.