Barrister's Book Shop

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
036025299
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
South Royalton, VT, USA
Phone
8027637170
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$830,012
Expenses
$796,104
Assets
$679,219
Liabilities
$75,336

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEX MANNING (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • AMY MCDOWELL (EXECUTIVE DI): $89,250 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide books and supplies for Vermont law school students

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide support for the students of the Vermont law school, primarily in the form of books and academic supplies. The operations of the bookstore are overseen by a student board of directors, offering board and management experience to students that complements their education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.7%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 97.1%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 92.1%; rating input score 92; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.1%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.7% of revenue deployed · 97.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $773K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $89K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.