Public Interest Law Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943243666
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5108919794
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,855,445
Expenses
$1,982,493
Assets
$5,295,426
Liabilities
$614,100

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • William N Hebert (President)
  • Irma Herrera (Vice President)
  • Shashi Hanuman (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shashi Hanuman (Executive Director): $130,000 total reported compensation
  • Michael Rawson (Director of Litigation and Advocacy): $115,008 total reported compensation
  • Melissa Morris (Senior Attorney): $111,471 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The purpose of the Public Interest Law Project is to (1) render legal services to low income persons who may be in need thereof and are financially unable to pay for the same; and (2) provide technical assistance, training, research, and litigation support to California legal aid organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Inclusive affordable housingPILP's housing work is designed to support Californians in need of affordable housing. We focus on equitable use and ownership of land to increase, protect, and preserve affordable housing and tenant protections for lower income Californians. We specialize in affordable and fair housing; land use, inclusive development and redevelopment, relocation assistance, preservation of subsidized housing, and landlord-tenant laws. In 2024, we advanced justice across California by winning enforceable commitments in Clovis to rezone for 1,300 affordable homes, launch a $1.8 million Housing Trust Fund, and adopt the Central Valley's first inlcusionary zoning ordinance. We protected the mobilehome residents is San Leandro from unlawful rent hikes, co-sponsored state legislation (AB 2023) to strengthen housing planning laws, and defended the Surplus Land Act against rollbacks. We also ended discriminatory leasing policies in San Bernardino, increasing access for over 26,000 Section 8 tenants, and distributed a strategy brief for the legal aid sector related to use and ownership of land in California.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.3%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $94.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 30.6%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.67; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 39.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.3% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 14 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $201K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.