Gastrointestinal and Liver Association of the Americas (GALA)
Legal name: Gastrointestinal and Liver Association of the Americas Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464233548
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2014
- Location
- Holmdel, NJ, USA
- Phone
- 877-925-9535
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Professional Societies, Associations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $210,000
- Expenses
- $227,331
- Assets
- $62,380
- Liabilities
- $90,249
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- FRED POORDAD (PRESIDENT)
- STEPHEN HANAUER (VICE PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- FRED POORDAD (PRESIDENT)
- ERIC LAWITZ (TREASURER)
- STEPHEN HANAUER (VICE PRESIDENT)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The GI and Liver Association of the Americas mission is to provide the most up to date education to physicians and other healthcare professionals who care for patients with chronic liver and gastrointestinal disorders. Educational initiatives will be held throughout the Americas, including the United States of America, Canada, Central America, and South America. Board of Directors. Dr. Lawitz is a Medical Director of the Texas Liver Institute and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. Lawitz received a B.S. from University of Illinois Chicago and M.D. from Rush Medical College. Lawitz received his postgraduate training in Gastroenterology/Hepatology at Brooke Army Medical Center and is board certified in the area of Gastroenterology/Hepatology. Lawitz has over 300 publications to include publications in the New...
What it reported doing in 2025
Organized to provide practical education to health care providers on the diagnosis and management of patients with gastrointestinal and liver diseases.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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 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: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 22
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 94.6%; rating input score 95
- 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -8.3%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.45; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -12.6% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -13.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $215K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $215K reported
- Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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: 3 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.