General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237282071
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2128703400
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alcohol, Drug Abuse, Treatment Only

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,793,893
Expenses
$13,341,147
Assets
$36,069,191
Liabilities
$10,027,666

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT WILCOX (PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT WILCOX (PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER): $379,800 total reported compensation
  • PAUL KONIGSTEIN (CFO AND ASSISTANT TREASURER): $252,893 total reported compensation
  • RACHEL JOSEPH (ASSISTANT SECRETARY): $160,508 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Alcoholics anonymous ("aa") is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others recover from alcoholism. The general service board of alcoholics anonymous, inc. Is the legal entity for which general service to the fellowship is facilitated and provided, including its two affiliated member corporations, aa world services, inc. And aa grapevine, inc., of which the trustees of the general service board are the members.

What it reported doing in 2024

General service board of alcoholics anonymous, inc. Acts as the custodian of traditions and funds. It serves the fellowship by maintaining services for those who should be seeking, through alcoholics anonymous, the means for arresting the disease of alcoholism through the application to their own lives, in whole or in part, the twelve steps which constitute the recovery program upon which the fellowship is founded. The major services rendered by the general service headquarters of a.a. Include handling thousands of communications from individuals and a.a. Groups, conduct of the annual general service conference, continuation of public relations activities with the objective of creating greater understanding of the aa recovery program within the basic concept of attraction rather than promotion, and maintenance of all necessary records for the worldwide movement.

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 92% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.1%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 55.4%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.3%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.7; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.1% of revenue deployed · 55.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $380K · 27 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.