Inland Empire Legal Aid
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 911672289
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
- Location
- Spokane, WA, USA
- Phone
- 5094772657
- Rating
- 49
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Legal Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $213,212
- Expenses
- $256,369
- Assets
- $178,743
- Liabilities
- $3,281
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Emily Arneson (President)
People named in this filing
- Emily Arneson (President)
- Robert Hervatine (Secretary)
- Camerina Zorrozua (Treasurer)
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 Mission of the Inland Empire Legal Aid is to provide select legal services to low-income residents of Spokane County and outlying counties who may otherwise be denied adequate representation or access to the civil justice system and to encourage local attorneys to fulfill their duty to provide pro bono services.
What it reported doing in 2025
The Primary purpose of the Inland Empire Legal Aid is to provide free legal services to economically disadvantaged residents. The programoffers various legal seminars, clinics, and legal forms. During the years ending December 31, 2025 and 2024 607.73 and 918.74 hours, respectively, were donated by legal professionals and paraprofessionals providing legal representation and other legal services to 1366 people. Law studentsand paralegal students also contributed to over 474.37 hours with 12 volunteers during the year. Pro-bono legal services for the attorneys alone areestimated at a value of $151,166.40 in free legal services for economically disadvantaged residents (which are not included in the revenues andexpenses of the tax return). The value of the assistance provided by Para-Professionals, law students and others has not been valued.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 69% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 31
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 24
- Sustainability: 27
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 29%; rating input score 29
- Program expense ratio: 22.6%; rating input score 23
- Fundraising efficiency: $30.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: -20.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 29% of revenue deployed · 22.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $58K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 23/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.