The Bar Plan Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431679870
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3149653333
Rating
53
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$65,171
Expenses
$31,762
Assets
$738,647
Liabilities
$5,758

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN R MCCARTHY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN R MCCARTHY (PRESIDENT): $381,132 total reported compensation
  • PAT O'LEARY (VP & GENERAL COUNSEL): $234,273 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTIAN A STIEGEMEYER (EXECUTIVE VP): $197,225 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 and improve ethics and professionalism in the practice of law.

What it reported doing in 2024

Organized, conducted, & participated in approximately 30 law-related educational programs for 1,389 participants, including attorneys, law students, & the public. Also raised funds to be used for 5 law school scholarships.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 75% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32.9%; rating input score 33
  • Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 59.7%; rating input score 60; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 21st 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 51.3%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 23.26; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 413.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.8% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -17.5% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32.9% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $26K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $381K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 33/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.