Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
660890750
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Juan, PR, USA
Phone
7875851022
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Disaster Preparedness and Relief Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$395,088
Expenses
$918,223
Assets
$1,663,015
Liabilities
$43,242

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ariadna Godreau (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ariadna Godreau (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $106,036 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico promotes access to justice and the defense of fundamental rights through legal education, the development of civic capacities and legal support to low and moderate income persons and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

2024 presented an opportunity for Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico to continue its work of providing free legal education and support to communities, accumulating significant achievements in various areas. In the area of direct service, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico assisted more than 8,000 families who received legal support, whether through our hotlines, support services, direct assistance, or through litigation in local and federal courts. Regarding housing issues, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico offered legal representation to tenant families in public and private housing in matters related to evictions and dispossession, aiming to strengthen the right of access to justice and change the statistics that show that nearly 98% of these families go to court without legal representation. In the area of mortgage foreclosures, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico assisted individuals, 25% of whom were senior citizens, facing the risk of homelessness due to mortgage default. In addition, we represent families subjected to housing discrimination by institutions in federal forums. We continued providing legal support to disaster survivor families seeking assistance and successfully advocated for the reconstruction of their homes or their eventual relocation. Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico gained greater visibility through its Decent Work Unit, which offers legal representation to working women claiming unemployment insurance or facing employment discrimination. We also continued offering free legal support to survivors of domestic violence experiencing economic abuse. Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico offered continuing legal education courses in areas related to housing and economic abuse, impacting lawyers, judges, and professionals from other fields.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $59.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -132.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.81; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $843K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $106K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.