Chattanooga Bar Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 626043623
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Chattanooga, TN, USA
- Phone
- 4237563222
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $403,206
- Expenses
- $398,519
- Assets
- $298,181
- Liabilities
- $151,282
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARK LITCHFORD (PRESIDENT)
- STEVEN E SMITH (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- KEITH H GRANT (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
- LYNDA MINKS HOOD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- LYNDA MINKS HOOD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $121,060 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 work for the betterment of the legal profession and the administration of justice; to stimulate a feeling of respect, esteem and good fellowship among members; promote legal education of the legal community.
What it reported doing in 2025
The lawyer referral service is a public service that provided lawyer referral services to aid the general public needing legal representation
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1.2%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 30.4%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $376K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.