Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464283169
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5139770304
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,383,120
Expenses
$2,183,719
Assets
$1,391,729
Liabilities
$18,937

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIN C CHILDS (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIN C CHILDS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $194,171 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o: pro bono partnership of Ohio is dedicated to strengthening one of the region's most essential assets: nonprofit organizations. As laws, regulations, and enforcement continue to evolve, nonprofits increasingly face legal risks they are often not equipped to manage. The cost of business legal services can be prohibitive, leaving organizations exposed to compliance challenges that can threaten their missions. Working with attorney volunteers, pbpo helps protect and strengthen the community by providing free business legal services and legal education to nonprofits.

What it reported doing in 2025

Pbpo provides qualifying cincinnati and dayton nonprofit organizations with nocost business legal services so they can navigate the legal landscape and operate effectively. Pbpo helps nonprofits respond to evolving laws and risk areas, including employment, compliance, governance, and other critical legal needs, tailored to each organization. Pbpo also delivers timely educational publications and practical workshops that help nonprofit leaders understand and apply new and emerging legal requirements. Of pbpo's $2.15 million in program expenses, more than $1.35 million represents the estimated value of donated legal services provided by attorney volunteers.pbpo's services give nonprofit leaders the legal clarity they need to protect and advance their missions, while attorney volunteers strengthen their ties to the community. In 2025, pbpo led 562 legal projects for 208 local nonprofits with support from 394 attorney volunteers. Pbpo also produced 41 high-impact workshops and publications addressing pressing legal issues and reached 1,200+ nonprofit leaders and attorneys. Overall, in 2025, pbpo delivered an estimated $2.6 million in legal services and education to local nonprofits.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 89.7%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 8.4%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.4% of revenue deployed · 89.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $194K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.