Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391656980
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone
9712668212
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Censorship, Freedom of Speech and Press

Reported finances

Revenue
$276,582
Expenses
$309,173
Assets
$736,253
Liabilities
$810

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINA MERKLER (PRESIDENT)
  • CHRIS POWELL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JEFFREY TREXLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFFREY TREXLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $110,000 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 defend constitutional rights related to speech and press and to assist with relief from arbitrary discrimination by authorities conserning or relating to the public's access to comic books and ohter comic publications.

What it reported doing in 2024

The comic book legal defense fund continued to provide assistance in challenges to comics and graphic novel censorship. Matters in which the fund intervened raised a range of important constitutional and legal issues, such as comic creators' right to free expression, protection of the use of graphic novels in schools and libraries, and the right to make a diverse array of works protected by the first amendment available to the public.the fund also continued to promote the defense of the comic arts community's rights through online and in-person public educational outreach.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: -11.8%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.38; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.6%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.7% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $237K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.