Japanese American Citizens League
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 941245885
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4159215225
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Service Clubs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,874,027
- Expenses
- $2,621,894
- Assets
- $15,468,104
- Liabilities
- $645,914
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LARRY ODA (PRESIDENT)
- DAVID INOUE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID INOUE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $130,207 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The japanese american citizens league is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of japanese americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. (continue on schedule o). The leaders and members of the jacl also work to promote cultural, educational, and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the japanese american community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Grants to chapters for preserving legacy of japanese american community, advocacy initiatives, member and chapter leadership development, and cultural heritage and arts preservation. The annual convention brings jacl members and chapters together to conduct the organization's business of policy resolutions and constitution and bylaws amendments and the opportunity for membership to hear directly from the board and staff on the state of the organization and the environment in which we work. For over 40 years, the jacl/oca leadership summit brings approximately one dozen jacl members to Washington, dc annually to learn about the advocacy and education work done at the national level to transfer to the local chapter level. The kakehashi program is a partnership with the japanese government to send japanese american college students and young adults to japan to learn of and connect with their japanese heritage, fostering a better understanding of their identity as japanese americans. Administrative and non-programmatic functions of the organization include membership tracking and maintenance, administrative support, and fund development.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 65.7%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: $15.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 95.9%; rating input score 96; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 8.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.9; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 65.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.