Archcity Defenders

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800471494
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3143618834
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,345,502
Expenses
$7,448,830
Assets
$6,277,269
Liabilities
$42,926

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BLAKE STRODE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JACKI LANGUM (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BLAKE STRODE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $144,132 total reported compensation
  • JACKI LANGUM (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $132,649 total reported compensation
  • JOE HOLT (DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR): $121,466 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Archcity defenders (acd) is a holistic legal advocacy organization that combats the criminalization of poverty and state violence, especially in communities of color. Acd's foundation of civil and criminal legal representation, social services, impact litigation, policy and media advocacy, and community collaboration achieves and inspires justice and equitable outcomes for people throughout the st. Louis region and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2024

Advocacy: this program focuses on elevating the voices of clients who have been impacted by systemic oppression by speaking about their experiences while exposing injustice and misrepresentation. Advocacy involves hosting events for the community, creating handouts and references for the community as well as co-hosting a podcast that explores the issues facing the community and the people working to transform them. The organization also collaborates with organizers, activists, and other advocacy partners on local events, initiatives, and campaigns to build community power in furtherance of a commitment to racial justice, human dignity, and liberation in st. Louis and beyond... Archcity defenders is part of a campaign to shut down the st. Louis city's medium security institution (the "workhouse") that condemns hundreds of presumptively innocent people to suffer in unspeakably hellish and inhumane conditions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 47% for direct work, and 53% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 21st 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: -1.4%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $6.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $144K · 13 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $426K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.