Organization for the Advancement of Mussar Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 821093032
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4108443576
- Rating
- 49
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Judaism
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $374,848
- Expenses
- $367,381
- Assets
- $17,241
- Liabilities
- $1,965
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LAWRENCE KURZ (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- LAWRENCE KELEMEN (CHAIRMAN)
- LAWRENCE KURZ (PRESIDENT)
- ELLEN JESMER (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
The organization's goal is to provide jewish educational classes, seminars, lectures and events which promote and enhance jewish development and character development through introspection (i.e. "mussar"). It is the organization's mission and hope, that by advancing the study of mussar, it will imbue the organization's participants with a greater love and joy for life and the tools necessary for each participant to attain spiritual growth and character development through mussar.
What it reported doing in 2025
The organization's goal is to provide jewish educational classes, seminars, lectures and events which promote and enhance jewish development and character development through introspection (i.e. "mussar"). To provide such classes, seminars, etc., the employment of qualified individuals is a given. For the year in question, this inncluded also a donation to the zerach barnet synagogue through the pef israel endowment fund. The zerach barnet synagogue, located in israel hosted multiple lectures for the organization. This was the method of payment for usage of the space. Additional details on schedule o, under grants and allocations detail.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 82% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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 program spending has grown recently. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and a relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 47
- Transparency & Controls: 78
- Accountability: 6
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 52.6%; rating input score 53
- Program expense ratio: 53.6%; rating input score 54
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 1st 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -8.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 52.6% of revenue deployed · 53.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 23 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.