Western Association of Prelaw Advisors Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
870676101
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Cottonwood Heights, UT, USA
Phone
8017257720
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$121,523
Expenses
$100,864
Assets
$295,552
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chester White (President)
  • Martin Sommerness (Vice President)
  • Chris Shortell (Past President)

People named in this filing

  • Chester White (President)
  • Martin Sommerness (Vice President)
  • Amy Urbanek (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The promotion of interest in and preparation for law careers in college students through the sharing of skills between between Prelaw advisors, individual law school admissions officers, the law school admissions council, educational testing services and other law related organizations through meetings, trainings, and law school fairs

What it reported doing in 2025

The Western Association of Prelaw Advisors (WAPLA) Hosts law school fairs in which law school admissions representatives meet with collage students at various fair sites in the Intermountain west as will as well as Oregon. Approximately 60% of WAPLA's time and 50% of WAPLA's money is spent on organizing law school fairs at the University of Colorado, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Nevada Reno, Boise state University, University of Oregon, and Portland State University.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 48.4%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 62.2%; rating input score 62

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.93; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 48.4% of revenue deployed · 62.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $63K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 48/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.