Community Legal Services

Legal name: Community Legal Services Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231671562
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, US
Phone
215-981-3700
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$28,485,723
Expenses
$28,780,136
Assets
$30,496,561
Liabilities
$8,164,220

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KIMBERLY TAKACS (PRESIDENT)
  • PATRICK DEVINE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DEBORAH FREEDMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBORAH FREEDMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $218,164 total reported compensation
  • BRENDA MARRERO (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $200,922 total reported compensation
  • KATHERINE GOMEZ (SENIOR ATTORNEY): $197,558 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CLS provides free civil legal assistance to low-income Philadelphians. We are also advocating for critical policy changes that our community urgently needs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community legal services (cls) is nationally recognized as a model legal services program. Cls assists clients when they face the threat of losing their homes, incomes, health care, and even their families. Cls attorneys and other staff provide a full range of legal services, from individual representation to administrative advocacy to class action litigation, as well as community education and social work. In the past year, cls helped 13,600 philadelphians, including seniors facing foreclosure, victims of consumer fraud, young families at risk of homelessness and hunger, people facing barriers to employment, and survivors of domestic violence who need help achieving stability. Since its founding in 1966, cls has served hundreds of thousands of individuals at what is often the most critical time of their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 81% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: 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: -1%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 91% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $25.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $218K · 34 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $2.3M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.