Global Rule of Law & Liberty Legal Defense Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814075028
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
2025503749
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$56,832
Expenses
$53,136
Assets
$7,307
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dr Stephen Thompson (Vice President)
  • Jason Poblete (President)

People named in this filing

  • Terry Campo (Director)
  • Mark Lewis (Treasurer)
  • Mauricio Tamargo (Secretary)

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

We believe local accountability is an essential component of successful rule of law initiatives. For cases arising in foreign nations we provide local counsel the legal and political support they need to resolve legal and political disputes locally. We do this in part by first working with local counsel to exhaust domestic court options rather than first advocating in international bodies or tribunals such as the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights the United Nations Human Rights Council among others. Only local solutions can engender the long-term benefits needed to create a stable civil society where every individual can live free; however in many countries weak democratic institutions and a lack of the rule of law make it difficult for wrongly persecuted persons to find justice. Despite the challenges local accountability can present in these nations every effort should be made to resolve political and legal conflicts locally.

What it reported doing in 2025

Assisted in bringing the remains of Jimmy Sharmahd home to the USA for funeral and burial in California from Iran after he was wrongfully kidnapped tortured and executed by the Iranian regime. We also advised other families of other wrongfully detained US nationals in foreign land.

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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 92.2%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.5%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.14; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.8% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.9% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -19.7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.2% of revenue deployed · 92.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $49K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2018 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.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.