Legal Aid Service of Broward County Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
591547191
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Plantation, FL, USA
Phone
9547658950
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,805,582
Expenses
$15,855,952
Assets
$15,551,843
Liabilities
$13,234,373

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DEBRA KOPROWSKI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • CAROL O'CALLAGHAN (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANGELA PALMER (CFO): $247,633 total reported compensation
  • DEBRA KOPROWSKI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $246,197 total reported compensation
  • CAROL O'CALLAGHAN (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $214,240 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide high quality free civil legal advice, representation and education to the disadvantaged of broward and collier counties as to improve the lifestyle and living conditions of the low income community and encourage self-sufficiency. [continued on schedule o] this is accomplished through advocacy that might result in having an impact on large numbers of eligible clients by representing individual clients on day-to-day problems, and through efforts at educating clients about their rights, responsibilities and self-help options.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide legal services in civil cases to eligible persons within broward and collier counties in southern Florida; cooperate with the judiciary, the Florida bar, local bars, and all organizations interested in the administration of justice; and undertake, promote, develop, and carry out charitable, literary, and education projects, planned objectives, and activities of every kind, nature, and description in furtherance of legal aid work. In 2025 the organization served 4,245 individual clients and 9,903 within their households. We also served under the private attorney involvement pro bono program a total of 620 individual clients and 1,643 within their households.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 95% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 85.3%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,045.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 64th 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: -0.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.85; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.7% of revenue deployed · 85.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $13.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $248K · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $305K reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.