New Beginnings Law Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475563704
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2017
Location
San Rafael, CA, USA
Phone
4154924540
Rating
47
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$213,145
Expenses
$228,105
Assets
$31,699
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • James Ricci (President)

People named in this filing

  • James Ricci (President)
  • Heather Donoho (Treasurer)
  • Elissa Lasserre (Secretary)

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

New Beginnings Law Center is a community? based reintegration program. Our mission is to reduce recidivism through legal advocacy, compassionate accountability, and strong collaboration with government partners and community organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

New Beginnings Law Center (NBLC) provides legal advocacy and support to people with criminal records. We reduce recidivism through compassionate accountability, client participation, and collaboration with government and community partners. Clients pay a nominal fee to foster self? worth and complete a ? Paying It Forward? contribution that strengthens community ties.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 94% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 has grown recently. 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: 21
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 30
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 13.4%; rating input score 13
  • Program expense ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 12
  • Fundraising efficiency: $171.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.14; rating input score 8; 8th 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: -117.8% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 13.4% of revenue deployed · 12.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $228K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 13/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.