Parabola Center for Law and Policy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873636074
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Malden, MA, USA
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$47,586
Expenses
$72,785
Assets
$11,228

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Shaleen Title (President)

People named in this filing

  • Shaleen Title (President)
  • Laury Lucien (Clerk)
  • Shanel Lindsay (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-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To conduct research education and training on behalf of communities harmed by the war on drugs and other marginalized and vulnerable communities. Our mission is to provide everyone with the access and tools to participate in the drug policy arena.

What it reported doing in 2024

We spent $12,520 on other program expenses including producing a report on the research evaluating our educational videos which was accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal; general education and promotion about the organization and our work; gatherings with partners including state-level groups doing similar work; and traveling and presenting to conferences including the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy Anti-Monopoly Summit and Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition Annual Symposium.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 72.5%; rating input score 72

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -53%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.3%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -74.7% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -118.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -105.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 72.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $53K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.