Lee County Legal Aid Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
591163686
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Fort Myers, FL, USA
Phone
2393346118
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,213,929
Expenses
$1,295,390
Assets
$2,711,417
Liabilities
$267,373

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BENJAMIN ABDULNOUR ESQ (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANDREW BANYAI ESQ (EXECUTIVE DI): $124,277 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide legal services to residents of lee county, Florida who meet our financial guidelines. We provide legal services in the area of family law, including dissolution of marriage, paternity, establishing parenting plans, and step-parent adoption.

What it reported doing in 2024

1.family law - since 1967, lee county legal aid society has founded its legal reputation on the representation of families with minor children involved. Protecting the rights and welfare of vulnerable children during and after divorce has been a fundamental cause of the organization. In the fiscal year 2023-2024, our organization served 226 people with family law issues and recovered 436,177.07 in 26 cases with outcomes that affected families. There were 47 family law cases remaining open at the end of the fiscal year. 2.immigration law - arpa grant-funded 30-month program continuation. The immigration program is one of the fastest-growing projects undertaken by lee county legal aid society, to date. Initiated to help immigrant youth who have suffered neglect, abuse, or abandonment to become legal in the united states, through the special immigrant juvenile status (sijs) pathway to citizenship, children under age 18 are then protected from deportation from the united states. Aging out of foster care at 18, those youth who have been awarded sijs are able to find employment, rent a place to live, and continue to live and work their way toward full citizenship. In fiscal 2024, lee county legal aid society served 239 people with immigration issues, including children and families. There were 40 immigration cases remaining open at the end of the fiscal year. 3.housing law - as a result of catastrophic hurricane ian, the housing law program sought to advise and represent those whose homes were destroyed or so badly damaged that insurance and contractor issues were deemed predatory and often fraudulent. Landlord/tenant issues also arose in great number, due to the unscrupulous avarice of landlords who were ready to evict good tenants so the landlord could increase rent in a scarce housing market. Problems clients faced with unsafe living conditions and property loss continue to need legal advice, to date. 44 people with housing issues were served in fiscal year 2023, exclusive of thoose who were given legal advice and counsel through the self help programs in lee and charlotte counties. 4.self help centers our organization runs via zoom for lee clerk of court and charlotte clerk of court continue to be a very popular option for people who cannot afford an attorney but need brief legal advice. This free service served a total of 680 people in fiscal 2024, 192 with family law issues (118 in lee county, 74 in charlotte county) and 123 with housing issues (79 in lee county, 42 in charlotte county.) there were 365 others served in the self help center programs who had various legal problems including probate, bankruptcy, small claims, and more.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.3%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $179.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st 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: 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 41.5%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.09; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.3% of revenue deployed · 86.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $124K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.