Atlanta Animal Rescue Friends Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
020558856
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
Stone Mountain, GA, USA
Phone
6785343483
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$362,881
Expenses
$353,748
Assets
$278,349
Liabilities
$223,659

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Susan Leisure (Executive Director / Vice Chair of the Board)

Highest reported compensation

  • Susan Leisure (Executive Director / Vice Chair of the Board): $63,800 total reported compensation
  • Brooke Martin (Asst Director / COO): $63,800 total reported compensation
  • Ginger Higgons (Chair of the Board of Directors): $40,042 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 mission of Atlanta Animal Rescue Friends is to end pet overpopulation. We rescue companion animals and provide veterinary care, subsidize spay/neuter surgeries, and provide humane education to the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Through our Stone Mountain Healthy Pets Program, we subsidized spay/neuter surgeries and vaccines for low-income pet owners and provided food for approximately 525 pets per month through our community pet food bank. Expenses include veterinary and spay/neuter expenses, food for the pet food bank, program outreach and staff expenses, as well as a percentage of occupancy costs related to the Stone Mountain Healthy Pets Program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 67.3%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th 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: 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: Pass
    • 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: 2.5%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.79; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.8; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 47.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 67.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $238K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $64K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.