Athens Area Humane Society of Clarke County and Spca Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 581847318
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Athens, GA, USA
- Phone
- 7064521299
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,249,399
- Expenses
- $2,793,759
- Assets
- $5,414,990
- Liabilities
- $2,055,071
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LINDSAY MCCONNELL (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CHRISTINA SIMPSON (LEAD VETERIN): $139,997 total reported compensation
- JENNIFER VARNER (VETERINARIAN): $139,997 total reported compensation
- CHERYL MCCORMICK (CHIEF EXEC O): $101,410 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Theathensareahumanesocietyrescuesandprotectscompanionanimalsby providing for their wellbeing, uniting them with loving homes, and advocating for a compassionate society.
What it reported doing in 2025
Shelter programs: dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens are adopted to vetted and approved adoption applicants. Adoption fees are charged to offset the cost of sterilization procedures, veterinary services, and husbandry (food, shelter, enrichment). The athens area humane society envisions a society where all dogs and cats have a loving home and the bond between pets and people is celebrated. In 2025, 1,319 pets (474 dogs and 845 cats) were adopted into loving forever homes, and and 308 pets (102 dogs and 206 cats) were provided with in-home foster care prior to adoption. The average length-of-stay for adoptable pets was 8.2 days for in-shelter dogs and 14.1 for in shelter cats. The average length-of-stay for adoptable pets in foster care was 30.1 days for dogs and 64.3 days for cats.
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
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.2%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th 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: 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.94; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.7%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 83.2% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $140K · 20 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.