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American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

CharityWatch report issued
March 2021

Top-Rated Charity
A
CharityWatch Grade
Our independent grade based
on a number of factors.
 
86%
Program Percentage
Amount spent on programs
relative to overhead.
 
$8
Cost to Raise $100
Amount spent to raise
$100 of contributions.

Contact Information

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
125 Broad St.
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004

Other Names

ACLU

Tax Status

501(c)4

Website

www.aclu.org

Stated Mission

To maintain and advance civil liberties, including, without limitation, the freedoms of association, press, religion, and speech, and the rights to the franchise, to due process of law, and to equal protection of the laws for all people throughout the United States and its jurisdictions.

View similar charities
Data based on Fiscal Year Ended 03/31/2020

Program Percentage: 86%

The percentage of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)'s cash budget it spends on programs relative to overhead (fundraising, management, and general expenses).

$144,000,000

Calculated Total Expenses

(rounded)

 

Cost to Raise $100: $8

How many dollars American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spends on fundraising to raise each $100 of contributions.

$138,000,000

Calculated Total Contributions

(rounded)

Joint Costs

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)'s rating was adjusted for Joint Costs. If you are a donor who considers direct mail, telemarketing, and other Joint Cost solicitations to be true charitable programs, the below efficiency ratios, which were not adjusted for joint costs, may better reflect your goals.

Program % Cost to Raise $100
91% $4
Accounting rules allow charities to report some telemarketing, direct mail, and other solicitation costs as Program expenses. CharityWatch believes that most donors do not consider a charity's solicitation activities to be the Programs they are intending to support with their donations. We therefore adjust such expenses out of a charity's reported Program expense and add it to Fundraising expense prior to calculating its rating.

Government Funding

0% to 24%

Percentage of cash revenue
coming from government sources

 

Financial Documents

Entity Document Type Tax ID
American Civil Liberties Union IRS Form 990 13-3871360
American Civil Liberties Union Audited Consolidated Financial Statements Multiple
Entity: American Civil Liberties Union
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 13-3871360
Entity: American Civil Liberties Union
Document Type: Audited Consolidated Financial Statements
Tax ID: Multiple

Governance & Transparency

CharityWatch evaluates certain criteria related to a charity's Governance and Transparency. Donors may want to consider a charity's willingness to be open and transparent with CharityWatch to be a good litmus test for determining its commitment to public accountability.
This charity is Top-Rated
What does it mean to be Top-Rated?
 
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
meets governance benchmarks.
 
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
meets transparency benchmarks.
Transparency
Provides Financial Information
Audit Accessibility
Governance: Policies
Reports regularly & consistently monitoring & enforcing compliance with a written Conflict of Interest Policy
Reports required, annual disclosure by officers, directors, and key staff of interests that could give rise to conflicts
Reports having a written Whistleblower Policy
Reports having a written Document Retention and Destruction Policy
Governance: Financials
Reports providing copy of tax form to all board members prior to filing it with IRS
Reports that financial statements were audited by an independent accountant
Governance: Board of Directors
Reports at least 5 voting board members
51% or more of voting board members reported as independent
Reports documenting minutes of board and board committee meetings
Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy

  Name Title Compensation
1 Anthony D. Romero Executive Director/CEO $747,883
2 Dorothy M. Ehrlich Deputy Executive Director $689,086
3 David D. Cole National Legal Director $488,113
1
Name: Anthony D. Romero
Title: Executive Director/CEO
Compensation: $747,883
2
Name: Dorothy M. Ehrlich
Title: Deputy Executive Director
Compensation: $689,086
3
Name: David D. Cole
Title: National Legal Director
Compensation: $488,113

CharityWatch Analysts perform an in-depth analysis of charities' audited financial statements and IRS tax filings, and often review other documents such as state filings, annual reports, and fundraising contracts during their evaluations. Below are select notes that CharityWatch believes may be of interest to donors.

CharityWatch's rating of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is for the 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, social welfare organization (tax ID #13-3871360).

The rating does not include the financial activities of the local ACLU affiliates or of the affiliated 501(c)(3) public charity entity, the ACLU Foundation (tax ID #13-6213516). CharityWatch issues a separate rating for the ACLU Foundation.

CharityWatch separates the ratings for 501(c)(4) & 501(c)(3) organizations, even when they are included together in a consolidated audit, due to their differing treatments under the IRS tax code. For more information on this topic, please see our sections on Types of Non-Profits, Tax Status, and Treatment of Related Organizations, which can be found on the Our Process page.

For more information about things to consider when donating to organizations that have related public charity and social welfare entities, read "Sorting Out Nonprofit Pairs" in the "Articles & Alerts" section, below.


According to the ACLU consolidated audit of March 31, 2020 (Note 1, Organization):

"The ACLU is affiliated with 50 nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations and has a presence in every state in the United States and in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. All affiliates include reference to the American Civil Liberties Union or some variation thereof in their names (the affiliates). The affiliates also operate through related Section 501(c)(3) and Section 501(c)(4) organizations. The affiliates share the same overall mission and purpose as the ACLU, but their programs focus more on local or regional issues, while the ACLU's program activities are focused on overarching civil liberties issues and initiatives. Although the ACLU plays no direct role in the governance of and, except in very limited instances, does not share employees with, the affiliates, the organizations jointly fundraise and work together on certain programs and the ACLU, through either the Union [the ACLU] or [the ACLU] Foundation, as appropriate, at its sole discretion provides targeted financial and other support to the affiliates."


"The accounts and activities of the affiliates are not included in these [audited] consolidated financial statements," according to Note 2 of the ACLU consolidated audit of March 31, 2020.

According to the ACLU consolidated audit of March 31, 2020 (Note 2 re: Evaluation of subsequent events):

"The ACLU evaluates events occurring after the date of the [audited] consolidated financial statements to consider whether or not the impact of such events needs to be reflected and/or disclosed in the consolidated financial statements. Such evaluation is performed through the date the consolidated financial states are issued, which is September 30, 2020.

"On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern' and on March 11, 2020, declared it to be a pandemic. Actions taken around the world to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus include restrictions on travel, quarantines in certain areas and forced closures for certain types of public places and businesses. The coronavirus and actions taken to mitigate the spread of it have had and are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on the economies and financial markets of many countries, including the geographical area in which the Company operates. ... It is unknown how long the adverse conditions associated with the coronavirus will last and what the complete financial effect will be to the ACLU."


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