Legal Counsel for the Elderly

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521194741
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024346755
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,621,886
Expenses
$9,953,696
Assets
$101,290,160
Liabilities
$2,077,752

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RHONDA CUNNINGHAM HOLMES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN DONNELLAN (MEMBER/ AARP EVP & CHIEF O): $694,621 total reported compensation
  • EDNA KANE-WILLIAMS (SECRETARY / AARP EVP): $605,607 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIN DILLON (MEMBER / AARP SVP): $581,266 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Legal counsel for the elderly (lce) champions the dignity and rights of low-income d.c. Residents aged 60 and older by providing free legal and social services to defend, protect and empower vulnerable seniors. Lce accomplishes its mission by promoting economic and healthcare security, supporting and advocating for tenants, preventing and defending against consumer fraud and financial abuse (particularly for homeowners) and resolving complaints and ensuring proper care for residents in long-term care facilities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lce accomplishes its mission by responding to all inquiries and providing brief legal advice, referring potential clients to other resources or representing clients through one of several practice areas focusing on: economic and healthcare security by securing public benefits, retirement benefits and veterans' benefits, and assisting with guardianships and probating estates; tenant advocacy and support through intervening early on behalf of elderly tenants at-risk of eviction, preserving rental vouchers and holding landlords accountable for repairs and maintenance of their properties; consumer fraud and financial abuse prevention through advocacy, education and outreach to homeowners by providing foreclosure defense, tax sale intervention, debt collection defense and representing seniors victimized by scams and predators; pro bono engagement of private practice, corporate and government attorneys to prepare life planning documents such as wills and powers of attorney, and to handle litigation and systemic advocacy cases for recurring legal issues and educational outreach; and housing the dc office of the long-term care ombudsman to respond to andinvestigate complaints of residents in long-term care facilities. In addition, lce publishes educational materials, conducts seminars on issues impacting the elderly and provideseducation on medicare fraud prevention.

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 98% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 76.9%; rating input score 77; 14th 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: 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: 14.4%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.18; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.4%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.6% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $695K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $112K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.