Salisbury Lodge 817 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the USA

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520470813
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Salisbury, MD, USA
Phone
4105460345
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$811,562
Expenses
$813,761
Assets
$829,525
Liabilities
$255,750

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL GUDELSKI (Treasurer): $6,000 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM KUMMER (Secretary): $6,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

This Elks Lodge is a Fraternal and Charitable Association. Members pay dues to support Lodge activities benefiting the members and their guests. This Elks Lodge also performs & sponsors significant community-related events and provides financial support to numerous local charities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Operates under the Lodge System for the exclusive benefit of its Members and guests.The Lodge's Fraternal Activities and any Net Income derived is used exclusively for Benevolent, Community and Charitable Purposes Total # of Members is 1,390 (average, begin of year and end of year) and generally serves its Members, and by Member request, their guests and others in the Local Area

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 97% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 51.2%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.02; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.1% of revenue deployed · 51.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $416K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $6K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.