Ahavas Yisrael Charity Fund

Legal name: Rabbi Chaim Kowalsky Memorial Ahavas Yisrael Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521219478
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Baltimore, MD, United States
Phone
410-358-2525
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,371,175
Expenses
$5,768,396
Assets
$6,168,622
Liabilities
$678,635

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BORUCH BRULL (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BORUCH BRULL (VICE PRESIDENT): $128,165 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to provide food, shelter, clothing and basic living needs for poor and needy Baltimore residents with sensitivity and discretion. Every time you make a purchase at smile.amazon.com, Amazon donates to Ahavas Yisrael Charity Fund. Help put smiles on local families in need! We offer essential programs that support our community. Ahavas Yisrael Charity Fund is primarily administered by volunteers and has an annual budget of over $3 million dollars. In order to maximize the assistance we are able to offer those in need, Ahavas Yisrael works closely with individuals, families, and communal leaders. Since 1978, the Rabbi Chaim Nachman Kowalsky Memorial Ahavas Yisrael Charity Fund has fed, clothed, paid the rent, utility bills and medical bills for needy families in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity. Some of these families have fallen on hard times due to...

What it reported doing in 2024

Distributions of food and financial assistance to the poor

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.3%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $86.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 86.3%; rating input score 86; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 9.5%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 87.3% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 17 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.