The American Contract Bridge League Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 130430330
IRS 990 coverage: 2010–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024
Location: Horn Lake, MS, USA
Phone: 6622533100
Rating: 63
Verdict: SUPPORTED
Rating confidence: Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $18,195,273
Expenses: $16,496,408
Assets: $20,637,165
Liabilities: $9,422,959

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

MARGOT HENNINGS (PRESIDENT)
CINDY SHOEMAKER (VICE PRESIDENT)
BRONIA JENKINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

BRONIA JENKINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $267,619 total reported compensation
JENNIFER WEBSTER (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $217,628 total reported compensation
PING HU (ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT): $181,181 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote, grow, and sustain the game of bridge and serve the bridge-related interest of our members.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educational programs and club & member services: over half a million spent in support of junior bridge players and educational programs to teach bridge. Our club & member services department supported more than 120,000 members and 1,500 clubs in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model: Other-operating. 98% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model: Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 51
Transparency & Controls: 63
Accountability: 91
Sustainability: 51
Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 55.9%; rating input score 56
Program expense ratio: 61%; rating input score 61
Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
Grant itemization coverage: 98.4%; rating input score 98; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Major donor itemization: Limited
Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

Operating margin: 9.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.25; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 55.9% of revenue deployed · 61% of spending went to programs
Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $10.1M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $268K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 22 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.

Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.