The Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237208853
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Phone
225.379.7393
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$215,672
Expenses
$232,351
Assets
$1,140,115
Liabilities
$2,755

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ellen Sager (Executive Director)
  • Steve Winkler (President)
  • Shelli Feist (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ellen Sager (Executive Director): $40,000 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 Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge is the center of Jewish philanthropy and volunteerism in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas. The Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge is a person-to-person, community-driven organization dedicated to the health, education, and spiritual and cultural identity of Jewish people worldwide.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide relief for emergency assistance, educational assistance, social services and housing repairs to damaged homes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 45% for direct work, and 55% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.2%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 83.9%; rating input score 84; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.7%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.91; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 91.2% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $193K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $40K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.