Birmingham Bar Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
631124515
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2052011757
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Private Grantmaking Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$153,288
Expenses
$167,048
Assets
$2,097,509
Liabilities
$2,636

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINA A GRAHAM (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • BEN GOLDMAN (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • ALICIA JETT (PRESIDENT)
  • CINDY ANDERSONJAN-JULY 2024 (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MANDY PETERSON-TICE DEC 2024-PRES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CINDY ANDERSONJAN-JULY 2024 (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $30,000 total reported compensation
  • ALICIA JETT (PRESIDENT): $10,000 total reported compensation
  • MANDY PETERSON-TICE DEC 2024-PRES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $6,250 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To support, promote, and encourage activities for the furtherance of justice and legal education, including but not limited to the education of primary and secondary students, as well as the general public to promote a greater understanding of the law, through scholarships and encouragement of legal research, publications, institutes, and forums.

What it reported doing in 2024

Oral arguments- each year, we coordinate with the supreme court of Alabama, the Alabama court of criminal appeals, and the Alabama court of civil appeals to travel to birmingham to hear oral arguments in actual cases. We invite area high school and middle school students to come observe the hearings and provide instruction on the court structure and the legal issues in the upcoming cases. Members of the local bar, law schools, and the general public are also invited. Attendance ranges between 1,000-1,500.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.3%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 53.6%; rating input score 54; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -9%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.56; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.9% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.3% of revenue deployed · 84.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 29 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $141K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 31 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.