Tefillin Together

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464914672
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Richmond, VA, USA
Phone
3012333044
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$199,742
Expenses
$227,303
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$17,211

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ADAM J LESSIN (DIRECTOR): $53,750 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide needy jewish families around the world with phylacteries ("tefillin") that they are not otherwise able to afford. These phylacteries are to be donated to the needy families free of charge. Donning phylacteries is a daily religious obligation, mandated by jewish law, incumbent upon every jewish male over the age of thirteen. The general range of this purchase is between 500 and 2,000, beyond the means of many families in financial distress. The organization also pays official jewish scribes to write mezuzahs, which are to be hung on the doors of jewish families. These mezuzahs are provided free of charge to all jewish families who authorize.

What it reported doing in 2020

Provided many tefillin supplies for needy jewish families around the world and in the richmond, va area so that they can more easily comply with jewish law for their daily activities without incurring additional financial hardship.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.8%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -11.9% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -10.9% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $219K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2019 to 2020
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.