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American Life League

CharityWatch report issued
September 2021

 
CharityWatch Grade
 

Contact Information

American Life League
PO Box 1350
Stafford, VA 22555

Other Names

None

Tax Status

501(c)3

Website

www.all.org

Stated Mission

Exists to serve God by helping to build a society that respects and protects individual innocent human beings from creation to natural death--without compromise, without exception, without apology.

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Data based on Fiscal Year Ended 12/31/2019

*Why a Question Mark Rating?

CharityWatch currently has concerns about this organization and/or is unable to provide complete rating information due to the organization's nondisclosure of financial information. Please see the Analysts' Notes section for a more detailed explanation.


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.
American Life League
does not meet governance benchmarks.
 
American Life League
does not meet 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

Unable to Provide Salaries

CharityWatch is unable to provide a range of Top Three Salaries for this charity for the above fiscal reporting year because we lack complete salary data for the organization. Except for officers, directors, and trustees, the IRS does not require breakouts of salaries totaling less than $100,000.

For example, XYZ charity would be required to provide a breakout in its tax form of compensation to its president of $55,000, but would not be required to provide a breakout of $99,000 in compensation to its top medical researcher if that person is not also an officer, director, or trustee of the organization.

This charity reports that compensation to its officers, directors, and trustees is under $100,000 per individual. Donors who would like to view limited salary data for this organization should refer to its tax form, which may be available on the charity's web site or from a number of third-party sources. See CharityWatch's Links page for information on obtaining copies of charity tax forms.


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 is unable to provide a letter grade rating of American Life League (ALL) at this time and has issued it a "?" rating for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. As of September 14, 2021, fiscal 2019 is the most current IRS Form 990 filing publicly available for ALL.

In its 2019 IRS Form 990, ALL reports that its financial statements were audited by an independent accountant (IRS Form 990, Part XII). CharityWatch was not able to locate or obtain a publicly available copy of ALL's 2019 audited financial statements, and ALL has been unresponsive to CharityWatch's past requests for such information. 

ALL reports using cash basis accounting to prepare its 2019 IRS Form 990 (IRS Form 990, Part XII). Cash basis accounting reports revenues and expenses based on when cash flows in and out of an organization. Whereas accrual basis accounting, which is the method typically used in audited financial statements in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), reports revenues and expenses when earned and incurred, respectively. Accrual basis accounting provides a clearer picture of how efficiently an organization is operating and is less susceptible to manipulation that can be caused by the timing of cash deposits or payments.

CharityWatch contacted ALL in a correspondence dated June 30, 2020 to request a copy of ALL's IRS Form 990 and audited financial statements for its most recent fiscal year. As of September 14, 2021, ALL has not responded to CharityWatch's request.

Given that ALL's 2019 IRS Form 990 is reported on a cash basis, and that CharityWatch has been unable to obtain a copy of ALL's 2019 audited financial statements, either from ALL directly or from public sources, we have issued ALL a "?" rating for fiscal 2019. This rating signifies that ALL has not disclosed sufficient financial information with which CharityWatch could compute a meaningful letter grade rating. CharityWatch's most recent letter grade rating for ALL was a "D" based on a Program Percentage of 53% and a Cost to Raise $100 of $48 for fiscal year 2014.

American Life League (ALL) responded "No" on its 2019 IRS Form 990 tax filing, Part IV, Checklist of Required Schedules, line 28, which asks: "Was the organization a party to a business transaction with one of the following parties..." 

(a) A current or former officer, director, trustee, key employee, creator or founder, or substantial contributor?

(b) A family member of any individual described in line 28(a)?

(c) A 35% controlled entity of one or more individuals and/or organizations described in lines 28(a) or 28(b)?

Had American Life League responded "Yes" to any of these Form 990 questions for its fiscal 2019 reporting year, it would have been required to complete and file IRS Form 990, Schedule L, Transactions with Interested Persons. ALL has reported such transactions in prior years, as described below. 

In its 2015–2018 respective IRS Form 990 tax filings, ALL reports for Schedule L, Part IV, Business Transactions Involving Interested Persons, a transaction with Anthony Kane and Associates for "printing and mailing services," with the relationship reported as "board of director is owner." In 2018 and 2016, ALL left blank the "Amount of transaction" field on the schedule, and no supplemental information about the transaction is reported. In 2017 and 2015, the "Amount of transaction" is reported as $554,897 and $1,862,208, respectively.

American Life League (ALL) reports in its 2019 IRS Form 990 (Part VI, Section C) that Virginia is the only state with which a copy of its 2019 Form 990 is required to be filed. As of September 14, 2021 the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website reports ALL's Registration Filing Status as: "Organization is not authorized to solicit in Virginia (pending)."

CharityWatch contacted the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in August 2021 regarding American Life League's authorization to solicit in its home state of Virginia and detailed our concerns regarding its financial reporting. We received a response letter later that month that included the following: "The information will be reviewed, and the appropriate course of action will be determined. This may include referral to another agency with enforcement authority over the subject of this complaint."

As CharityWatch becomes aware of the progress of this investigation, we will update our information on American Life League accordingly.