Law and Leadership Institute LLC

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264709314
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbus, OH, USA
Phone
6142366205
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Vocational, Technical Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$639,029
Expenses
$735,525
Assets
$348,774
Liabilities
$6,872

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HONORABLE JEFFREY HOPKINS (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER CREED (Executive Dir.): $113,164 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 law and leadership institute, llc ("lli") is a statewide initiative in collaboration with the legal community that inspires and prepares students from underserved communities for post-secondary and professional success through a comprehensive four-year academic

What it reported doing in 2024

Improving academic skills, and offering college and career guidance to talented students from under-served middle and high schools, through coursework, tutoring, internships, and extra-curricular activities. The institute operates in six urban areas of Ohio: cincinnati, dayton, columbus, akron, toledo, and cleveland. The four-year, rigorous college preparatory program begins with course work in criminal law and court procedures taught by Ohio law students. High school students gain critical academic skills in studying and test-taking, and writing and self-expression in addition to self-confidence, positive peer group relations and excitement about a professional career.

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 95% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 73.2%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.47; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.4%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.3% of revenue deployed · 73.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $539K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.