Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043235179
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
3154305256
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Interest Law

Reported finances

Revenue
$404,330
Expenses
$402,768
Assets
$302,769
Liabilities
$-5,324

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

People named in this filing

  • John A Shutkin (Chair)
  • Wesley T Gee (Vice Chair)
  • Ryan LaRue (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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote equal rights and opportunities for Massachusetts residents by developing and advocating for systemic solutions to social justice issues.

What it reported doing in 2025

MA Appleseed Center for Law and Justice engaged in education, research and advocacy programming to advance its mission including: - provided workshops for over 200 youth experiencing homelessness and service providers in partnership with pro bono attorneys, - developed a robust network of pro bono attorneys to improve legal resources for youth experiencing homelessness through capacity workshops and one-on-one sessions, - launched an ad campaign to raise awareness of the MA Homeless Youth Handbook, our comprehensive know-your-rights guide, garnering 4.7 million visits, - embarked on a research effort to document and develop actionable solutions to barriers faced by community members with limited English proficiency to accessing the court system and state services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 68% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.3%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 54.4%; rating input score 54
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 26th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.3% of revenue deployed · 54.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $219K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 54/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.