Community Law Program Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
592970727
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Petersburg, FL, USA
Phone
7275827480
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Interest Law

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$706,725
Expenses
$629,807
Assets
$1,440,277
Liabilities
$1,178,814

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Melodie Menzer (Vice President)
  • V James Dickson Esq (President)
  • Rachael Stanger Esq (Executive Director)
  • Kimberly Rodgers (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rachael Stanger Esq (Executive Director): $76,154 total reported compensation
  • Kimberly Rodgers (Executive Director): $51,100 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Organizations mission is to empower the most vulnerable in our community through pro bono legal assistance and representation, education, and outreach.

What it reported doing in 2024

CLP provides free civil legal services in the areas of family law, housing law (including landlord-tenant and mortgage foreclosure defence), consumer law (including bankrupcy), probate, guardian advocacy, wills and advance directives, the expungement of criminal records, and transactional legal matters for eligible non-profit organizations. CLPs services help vulnerable residents like seniors, survivors of domestic violence, single parents struggling to raise children, young adults formerly in foster care, veterans, and persons with disabilities. In 2024, we provided free legal assistance to 1,904 unduplicated individuals, families and/or non-profit organizations. We also provided legal information, referrals to other community resources, and rental assistance navigation to many others, including hosting multiple community legal events. We helped our clients recover financial benefits or eliminate financial burdens for residents totaling over $2.2 million dollars, in addition to other life-changing outcomes like avoiding homelessness, breaking free from domestic violence, getting a fresh financial start, and getting peace of mind. These outcomes were made possible in large part because of the donations of local attorneys who volunteered their times and talents to assist our clients. In 2024, over 68 different volunteer attorneys donated attorney services valued at $342,388.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 90.2%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $110.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 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: 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: 10.9%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.29; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.82; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 90.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $568K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.