Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy

Legal name: Lower East Side Conservancy Ltd

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134107463
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
(212) 374-4100
Rating
50
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Religion Related N.E.C.
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$258,535
Expenses
$79,015
Assets
$240,017
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN GIBOFSKY (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • KAREN BLATT (BOARD SECRETARY)
  • KAREN GIBOFSKY (PRESIDENT)
  • ANDREW ALTFEST (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy (LESJC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and sharing the Jewish heritage of NYC neighborhoods, starting with the iconic Lower East Side, the cradle of American Jewish civilization. Support Your Conservancy Subscribe to our Newsletter Here Join our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss out on all our News, Tours, and Events. _The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy (LESJC) is a non-profit organization [501 (c) 3], created in 1998, dedicated to exploring and maintaining the vibrancy of Jewish history in New York City._ _Our mission is to celebrate, preserve, and share the Jewish heritage of NYC neighborhoods, starting with the iconic Lower East Side, the cradle of American Jewish civilization._.

What it reported doing in 2024

Organizing educational tours, publications, and programs on nyc jewish history beginning with cradle of american jewish civilization on the lower east side.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. 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: 39
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 12
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 19.4%; rating input score 19
  • Program expense ratio: 59.7%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $43.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: Limited
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 69.4%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.04; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.9% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.3% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.4% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 19.4% of revenue deployed · 59.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $47K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 19/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.