The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore

Legal name: Associated Jewish Charities of Baltimore

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
526024192
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Baltimore, MD, United States
Phone
410-727-4828
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Federated Giving Programs
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$37,709,886
Expenses
$60,279,946
Assets
$446,679,873
Liabilities
$17,551,519

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANDREW CUSHNIR (SECRETARY & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • IRA MALIS (PRESIDENT)
  • PJ PEARLSTONE (FIRST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • REBECCA BRENNER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL FRIEDMAN (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL DYE (VICE PRESIDENT, INVESTMENTS)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARC TERRILL (FORMER SECRETARY & EXECUTIVE DIR.): $1,170,535 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW CUSHNIR (SECRETARY & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $429,833 total reported compensation
  • MARK SMOLARZ (COO/CFO (UNTIL 3/25)): $309,439 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Associated strengthens and nurtures Jewish life by engaging and supporting community partners in Greater Baltimore, Israel and around the world. bar In keeping with our Jewish values,** The Associated and its agencies support a thriving Baltimore that celebrates diversity and appreciates the unique combination of gender, race, age, religion and ethnicity, sexual orientation, intellectual and physical disabilities and special qualities that each resident adds to the fabric of life in Baltimore. We welcome everyone interested in our mission to join us. If you require accommodations, please contact us, and we will make every effort to meet your needs.

What it reported doing in 2024

The ajc operates an investment program for the associated: jcfb, its agencies, supporting foundations, donor advised funds, and other tax-exempt public organizations that are connected with the work of the associated. The investment program is managed by professional staff employed by the associated and is overseen by an investment committee process involving over 45 volunteers with investment and business expertise. The assets invested in this program are critical to the success of the overall jewish community with distributions therefrom mostly supporting the overall baltimore and larger jewish community tax exempt public organizations. The fees generated from this activity covers all related costs of operating this critical program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 93% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 98
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 95.9%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $206.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.3%; rating input score 98; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.8%; rating input score 97; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -59.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.41; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 95.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 31 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $57.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 42 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.4M reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 515 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 560 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.