Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association
Legal name: Widows Orphans & Disabled Firefighter's Fund
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 956205446
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Phone
- (323) 259-5200
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fire Prevention
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,922,037
- Expenses
- $1,579,864
- Assets
- $26,020,548
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Christopher Stine (President)
- James Duffy (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Liberty Unciano (Controller/Treasurer): $191,589 total reported compensation
- Christopher Stine (President): $111,829 total reported compensation
- James Duffy (Vice President): $47,931 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 provide financial assistance to the widows and orphans of deceased Los Angeles City Firefighters and to disabled Los Angeles City Firefighters. Founded more than a century ago and managed by the Los Angeles Firemen’s Relief Association, your **Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firefighter’s Fund** is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to helping the families of LAFD members facing a serious crisis, such as being injured or killed in the line of duty. Our Mission Assisting our hero firefighter families with financial, emotional and other much-needed support. Assisting our hero firefighter families with financial, emotional and other much-needed support. Be A Hero to A Hero.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Widows, Orphans, and Disabled Firefighters's Fund provided the following services during the year:- Financial assistance to widows, orphans, and disabled firefighters, which also included amounts for durable medical equipment. See Schedule I, part III for more details.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 47% for direct work, 39% for grants, and 14% for member benefits.
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 few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 54
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 81
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 54.5%; rating input score 55
- Program expense ratio: 66.4%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 19th 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: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 17.8%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.47; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -4.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 54.5% of revenue deployed · 66.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 24 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 24 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 55/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.