Avodah
Legal name: Avodah the Jewish Service Corps Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 133914342
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, United States
- Phone
- (212) 545-7759
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Service Clubs
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,677,531
- Expenses
- $4,083,377
- Assets
- $2,958,673
- Liabilities
- $161,921
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CHERYL COOK (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- CHERYL COOK (CEO): $228,761 total reported compensation
- SHIRA SARFATI (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $155,632 total reported compensation
- SARRA ALPERT (DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTE): $127,136 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
2023-2024 DC Service Corps Members Avodah develops lifelong social justice leaders whose work is informed by Jewish values and who inspire the Jewish community to work toward a more just and equitable world. Support our mission. Avodah develops lifelong social justice leaders whose work is informed by Jewish values and who inspire the Jewish community to work toward a more just and equitable world. Support our mission 2017-2018 Avodah alumni gather for Shabbat dinner.
What it reported doing in 2024
Avodah is a national organization that has built a new generation of jewish leaders committed to social justice for over twenty-five years. Through our young adult programs -- the jewish service corps and justice fellowship -- we provide young jewish leaders with the tools, experience, knowledge, and networks they need to create a more just and equitable country. Avodah has a profound and lasting impact on our participants, both during our immersive programs and once they become part of our expansive national avodah alumni network of approximately 1,500 individuals. Through the 2022 launch of the avodah institute for social change, we've expanded our offerings by providing education, training, advising, and programming to mid-career and senior jewish leaders to deepen their institutions' commitment to social change.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 89% 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
SUPPORTED - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.2%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 73.6%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 12.7%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 64.2% of revenue deployed · 73.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $229K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.