Landmark Legal Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510203802
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
8169315559
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Public Interest Law

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,138,249
Expenses
$2,605,681
Assets
$17,360,481
Liabilities
$151,814

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD P HUTCHISON (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT)
  • MATTHEW C FORYS (Executive Vice President)
  • MICHAEL J O'NEILL (Vice President for Legal Programming)

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD P HUTCHISON (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT): $433,278 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW C FORYS (Executive Vice President): $302,948 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL J O'NEILL (Vice President for Legal Programming): $302,528 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2024

Landmark's legal program is primarily focused on promoting the separation of powers, defending election integrity, and educating young conservatives on principals of originalism. A full explanation of our activities is included in schedule o.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 35.6%; rating input score 36
  • Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 57.6%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.66; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 42.5%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 35.6% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $433K · 8 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.