Vermont Asylum Assistance Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
923916308
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Burlington, VT, USA
Phone
8029995654
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,212,736
Expenses
$363,197
Assets
$931,058
Liabilities
$12,653

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • REBECCA WASSERMAN (President)
  • KATE PAARLBERG (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • JILL MARTIN-DIAZ (Executive Dir.): $89,038 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 Vermont asylum assistance project (vaap) is a resource center that recruits, trains, mentors, and supports pro bono legal and lay advocates to provide free immigration services to humanitarian status-seekers in Vermont.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization recruits, trains, mentors, and supports pro bono legal and lay advocates to provide free immigration services to humanitarian status-seekers in Vermont.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% 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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 23.1%; rating input score 23
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 70.1%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.56; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.5%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 132.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 160% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 170.7% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 23.1% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $279K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $89K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 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: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 23/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.