The Access Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814129048
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$371,763
Expenses
$361,420
Assets
$10,894
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

1 person listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nora Cregan (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Nora Cregan (Executive Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Access Project facilitates and performs free legal services for low-income persons and underserved communities in California

What it reported doing in 2024

Continued Rising Scholars Program from 2023 serving justice-impacted and formerly incarcerated community college students from community colleges around the state of California. Conducted know-your-rights meetings at 49 colleges. Conducted 11 volunteer training and post-conviction record analysis workshops with pro bono attorneys at prominent law firms and corporate in-house law departments. Matched 286 pro bono volunteers with students to draft evidentiary declarations for clean slate petitions. Prepared expungement and felony reduction petitions for over 1500 convictions.

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

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: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 50
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.2%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 97.9%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $120.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.8%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 30.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 52.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.2% of revenue deployed · 97.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $354K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 1 people listed
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.