Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America

Legal name: Hadassah Medical Relief Association Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
136110872
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
800-928-0685
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,574,891
Expenses
$61,292,201
Assets
$678,979,177
Liabilities
$453,088,987

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAROL ANN SCHWARTZ (PRESIDENT (AS OF 1/1/2024))
  • FRAN FELDMAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JILL SAPPERSTEIN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LIZ ALPERT (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHELLE HUBERTUS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • PEG ELEFANT (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RON ALONI (CFO/COO & CO-INTERIM CEO (AS OF 1/6/2024)): $568,152 total reported compensation
  • SHERYL ZELIGSON (CLO, GEN COUNSEL & CO-INTERIM CEO (AS OF 1/6/2024)): $551,942 total reported compensation
  • NAOMI LEAH ADLER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (UNTIL 1/10/2024)): $378,788 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At Hadassah, we have the power to heal our world—bringing healing where it’s needed most, in the US, Israel and around the world. At the dawn of the Holocaust in Europe, in the 1930s, Henrietta Szold and a German colleague organized the rescue of thousands of Jewish children to safety in Palestine through Youth Aliyah. She met every boat as it arrived. Today, Hadassah still supports Youth Aliyah villages in Israel, which nurture and heal at-risk youth by setting them on a path to a successful future. Since 1934, over 300,000 young people in 80 lands have graduated from the Hadassah-supported youth villages. Learn More Continuing Our Mission Today.

What it reported doing in 2024

Grants to affiliates: beginning in 2021, hadassah, the women's zionist organization of america, inc. ("hwzoa") granted to hmra the discretion and responsibility for administering, managing and investing certain investment assets. For investment purposes only, hmra is allowed to pool and manage the funds with funds owned by hmra and the hadassah foundation, inc. ("hf"). On a quarterly basis, hmra transfers to hwzoa and hf their pro rata share of investment income. In addition, hmra transfers to hwzoa distributions from endowments held by hmra.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 95.3%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -21.2%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.08; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.3%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 95.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $58.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $568K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $800K reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.