Academy for Jewish Religion
Legal name: The Academy for Jewish Religion
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 061220056
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Yonkers, NY, United States
- Phone
- 914.709.0900
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,998,215
- Expenses
- $2,447,816
- Assets
- $2,208,077
- Liabilities
- $497,195
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ORA HORN PROUSER (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- ORA HORN PROUSER (CEO): $123,608 total reported compensation
- JILL HACKELL (ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVE): $2,200 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 Academy for Jewish Religion serves the needs of the Jewish People by ordaining rabbis and cantors and training leaders. We affirm our commitment to a vibrant and inclusive Jewish pluralism; to an interweaving of sacred texts, critical inquiry, spiritual engagement, innovative approaches, and thoughtful creativity; to providing educational content to the Jewish public; to creating opportunities for dialogue with interfaith partners; and to meaningful engagement with the diverse spiritual, cultural, and historical dimensions of Israel — all grounded in Torah and a profound awareness of living in the presence of God.
What it reported doing in 2024
Ajr is a pluralistic rabbinical, cantorial, and graduate school that trains leaders for service in communities and institutions across the constellation of jewish life.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 71% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 56
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.9%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 17th 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: Fail
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 18.4%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.9; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 68.9% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $124K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.