Bay Area Legal Aid

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941631316
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5106634755
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$31,426,545
Expenses
$30,238,844
Assets
$24,127,281
Liabilities
$9,346,829

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

Leadership & pay

43 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GENEVIEVE RICHARDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • GENEVIEVE RICHARDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $270,358 total reported compensation
  • HAYDEE ALFONSO (GENERAL COUNSEL): $227,226 total reported compensation
  • ARIELLA HYMAN (DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM & ADVOCACY): $224,992 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bay Area Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to low-income residents of the Bay Area, working to ensure equal access to justice.

What it reported doing in 2024

Domestic violence prevention: in 2024, baylegal provided integrated and holistic legal services to help 4,637 low-income san francisco bay area survivors of inter-personal violence and their children escape abuse and build new independent and safe futures. Baylegal provided legal assistance with restraining orders, child custody and visitation orders, divorces, child and spousal support, and other family law protections and supports. Baylegal also assisted immigrant survivors of physical and mental abuse, as well their children, in filing for immigration relief under the violence against women act (vawa) and the victims of trafficking and violence protection act.through this work, baylegal secured over $11.1 million in quantifiable benefits in domestic violence, family law, and immigration matters, to help inter-personal violence survivors achieve lasting safety and improve their self-sufficiency.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 85% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.8%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 81% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $25.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $270K · 43 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $136K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.