The Aleph Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 592291627
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Surfside, FL, USA
- Phone
- 3058645553
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Rehabilitation Services for Offenders
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,330,857
- Expenses
- $8,955,394
- Assets
- $512,594
- Liabilities
- $1,008,652
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RABBI SHOLOM D LIPSKAR (CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENT UNTIL 05/25)
- AARON LIPSKAR (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MENACHEM KATZ (DIRECTOR - PRISON): $282,635 total reported compensation
- AARON LIPSKAR (CEO): $270,209 total reported compensation
- JOSEPH BRYSKI (DIR ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING): $210,958 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Family services, ethical education, rabbinical visitations, religious freedom advocacy, programs for prisons and the military.
What it reported doing in 2024
Family services; counseling and referral services for families in crisis and children at risk; emergency financial assistance; ethical education; religious freedom advocacy; public education programs. Approximately 22,000 people served.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 62
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.9%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 80.7%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 41.7%; rating input score 42; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.06; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.97; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 80.9% of revenue deployed · 80.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $283K · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $532K reported
- Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.