Community Justice Project Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 472777185
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016
- Location
- Miami, FL, USA
- Phone
- 3059077697
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Civil Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,365,239
- Expenses
- $2,293,683
- Assets
- $4,325,490
- Liabilities
- $1,035,712
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RODNEY Q SMITH (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- ALANA GREER (EXECUTIVE DI): $165,250 total reported compensation
- CARRIE FEIT (SENIOR ATTOR): $110,730 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Community justice project consists of community lawyers. In our legal work we collaborate closely with community organizers and grassroots groups in low-income communities of color because we believe that a more democratic, more just and more equal society can only truly come about through grassroots organizing and social movement. We are a part of that social movement in south Florida and strive to support organizing through our varied and often innovative legal work.
What it reported doing in 2024
Over the past year at community justice project our team continued to provide eviction defense representation to nearly 100 clients facing housing instability. Our work representing mobile home residents impacts more than 150 families confronting displacement. Our housing justice work also tracks trends in evictions and seeks opportunities for systemic impact. Community justice project worked with a number of community based organizations on impact litigation cases, policy advocacy, and arts-based practices to lift up community concerns and community driven solutions for equity. We also provided narrative support and facilitated workshops to help clients build capacity for storytelling.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for grants.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 80.6%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 94.3%; rating input score 94; 41st 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -68%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.89; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 29.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.