National Veterans Legal Services Program Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521238058
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
2022658305
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,640,488
Expenses
$9,534,901
Assets
$10,397,967
Liabilities
$3,995,956

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL WRIGHT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT)
  • RICHARD SPATARO (DIR. OF TRAINING/VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL WRIGHT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT): $258,436 total reported compensation
  • RENEE BURBANK (DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION): $233,242 total reported compensation
  • ANA REYES (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $231,056 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 at no cost legal assistance to veterans of the u.s. Armed forces and current service members.

What it reported doing in 2024

Class actions (formerly impact litigation): nvlsp brings class actions and other law reform litigation to benefit large numbers of veterans and their families. By compelling the va and military departments to bring their regulations and practices into compliance with applicable federal laws, one case can help thousands of veterans obtain the federal benefits they are due. In 2024, nvlsp's docket included nine certified or putative class actions against the va or military branches. As part of nvlsp's work on its longest-running class action, nehmer v. Dep't of veterans' affairs (n.d. Cal no. 86-6160), nvlsp succeeded in forcing the va to pay millions of dollars in retroactive benefits to survivors of deceased vietnam veterans who suffered from diseases that were the result of exposure to agent orange. Other class actions have resulted in hundreds of thousands of veterans and their caregivers gaining access to judicial review of unfavorable decisions related to caregiving stipends; va expanding access to in vitro fertilization medical care; and the department of the navy re-adjudicating thousands of sailors' medical separations who may be entitled to medical retirement pay. Nvlsp also engaged in other impact litigation, including litigation relating to a rulemaking petition and various requests for records under the freedom of information act. Nvlsp continued to represent veterans through its burn pit claims assistance project, in which nvlsp represents veterans before the va in their claims for disability compensation for diseases related to exposure to toxic chemicals spewed by open-air burn pits used by the military to dispose of waste in southwest asia. In september 2024, nvlsp launched its family caregiver assistance program, dedicated to helping veterans and family caregivers access the va's program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers (pcafc) and representing them in appeals from of pcafc denials.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.9%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 45.5%; rating input score 45; 15th 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; 63rd 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: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.09; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.9% of revenue deployed · 87.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $258K · 33 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $124K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.