Lawyers Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043501039
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6175443434
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$862,394
Expenses
$942,381
Assets
$655,496
Liabilities
$296,427

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TONYSHA TAYLOR (PRESIDENT)
  • MIA FRIEDMAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN C GEDRICK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CLERK)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN C GEDRICK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CLERK): $138,322 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Lawyers clearinghouse improves the lives of people facing social and economic hardship by engaging the legal community in pro bono service to nonprofit organizations and their homeless and low-income clients.

What it reported doing in 2024

In fy25, lawyers clearinghouse leveraged a staff of 5 to 6 to manage 1005 volunteers who provided legal services and training worth over $15.6 million to 312 low-income and homeless people and 216 nonprofit organizations serving vulnerable communities. In addition, staff engaged 14 access to justice fellows who provided legal services and expertise for an average of 10 hours per week for 9 months, an estimated 5,500 hours of pro bono, at 12 partner organizations. The access to justice fellows program, which matches "a2j fellows" (senior and retired attorneys) with partner organizations, including nonprofits, courts, and public service entities in Massachusetts, focused on increasing access to justice for persons in the commonwealth. A total of 612 volunteers assisted the organization in hosting legal workshops and providing resources for nonprofits. The nonprofit assistance program matched 146 nonprofit organizations with attorneys providing pro bono full representation assistance and nonprofits with attorneys providing on-site representation on matters with finite scope through clinic-style consultation programs; provided in-house brief counsel to 70 nonprofits; and ran 19 legal workshops for nonprofits with 769 attendees. Firm partners reported 7,708 hours of legal services by 612 volunteers (547 attorneys/65 non-attorneys) with an aggregate value of $7.9 million. Additionally, the organization provided free legal assistance clinics to homeless and low-income individuals facing civil legal issues and seeking criminal record sealing and expungement. 312 legal clinic program clients were served by 393 volunteers at 40 clinics. Firm partners have reported 8,550 hours of legal service valued at $7.7 million.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 73.5%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.3%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.7%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.6% of revenue deployed · 73.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $692K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $138K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.