Heritage Defense Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271286859
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Leander, TX, USA
Phone
8005155901
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$104,022
Expenses
$110,585
Assets
$194,876
Liabilities
$132

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DON HART - SEE SCH O RE COLUMN C (PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • DON HART - SEE SCH O RE COLUMN C (PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR)
  • JIM ZES (DIRECTOR)
  • TOM FORD (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To advance the Kingdom of Christ by promoting the legal and biblical foundations for family freedom.

What it reported doing in 2024

Charitable legal services - heritage defense foundation employs attorneys who provide information, consultation, and legal representation for the protection of children and the preservation of civil rights and civil liberties secured by law for both parents and children. Such charitable services have been provided to families who are unfamiliar with their rights and have general legal questions, families seeking the best available medical care for their children, families pursuing optimal developmental opportunities for their children with disabilities, families contacted by social services, and to many other families seeking to advance the welfare, health, and safety of their children.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.76; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 44.3%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 83.1% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $85K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.