Arc4justice Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474128221
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lexington, MA, USA
Phone
7812471770
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Reported finances

Revenue
$862,023
Expenses
$672,584
Assets
$598,252
Liabilities
$32,666

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SABA MWINE (FORMER PRESIDENT (ENDED 2024))
  • CESAR ALEMAN (PRESIDENT / DIRECTOR)
  • IDA REGINA CANNON (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • IDA REGINA CANNON (CEO): $196,953 total reported compensation
  • LISA ANN BALDAHOSIGH (SR MANAGER, SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION): $113,471 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To advance a vision of society where all systematic roots of inequities in housing and community systems have been addressed, where power and resources are held and allocated by those who have been most marginalized, where all cultures are appreciated and wholeness, rather than scarcity, is the guiding principle.

What it reported doing in 2024

Housing justice: we support efforts to sustainably transform homelessness and housing systems, support coalition building to successfully advocate for systemic changes in housing, health, and economic wellbeing, and build a community-based culture of evaluation to understand the impact of these interventions and changes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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

MIXED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.7%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 61.1%; rating input score 61
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.7% of revenue deployed · 61.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $411K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $197K · 10 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.