NAACP Empowerment Programs

CharityWatch is unable to provide a letter grade rating for the NAACP Empowerment Programs at this time due to our specific concerns about the organization's financial reporting. For this reason we have assigned it a "?" rating for its 2024 fiscal year based on our analysis of the organization's IRS Tax Form 990 and audited financial statements for that period. CharityWatch is concerned that the charity could be including certain fundraising expenses in its reported program expenses.

CharityWatch contacted the Organization on March 3, 2026, and March 4, 2026, via email and U.S. mail, respectively, with questions about its financial reporting for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2024. Specifically, CharityWatch asked:

(1) Per the audited Statement of Functional Expenses, CharityWatch notes $6,225,778 allocated to “Unit & Membership Operations,” which is included in Total Program Services. Audit Note 1, page 8, provides additional information about the types of activities that comprise the cited figure above. Please provide a breakout of what portion of the above is comprised of “Unit Operations” vs “Membership Operations.”

(2) Per IRS Form 990, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses, CharityWatch notes $9,914,442 allocated to the Program expense portion of line 11g, Other Fees for Services (nonemployees). For the above figure, please provide:

• The types of services provided (e.g., legal, communications, research, consulting, IT, fundraising campaign support, etc.)
• The approximate dollar amounts allocated to each service category;
• Whether any payments were made to professional fundraising companies or third-party development vendors, even if not reported under “Professional Fundraising Services”
• An indication of whether any of these expenses included any joint costs or fundraising components

(3) Per IRS Form 990, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses, CharityWatch notes $11,604,338 allocated to the Program expense portion of line 19, “Conferences, conventions, and meetings.” For the above figure, please provide:

• The types of services provided (e.g., legal, communications, research, consulting, IT, fundraising campaign support, etc.);
• The approximate dollar amounts allocated to each service category;
• Whether any payments were made to professional fundraising companies or third-party development vendors, even if not reported under “Professional Fundraising Services”
• An indication of whether any of these expenses included any joint costs or fundraising components

(4) Per the audited financial statements, Note 1, page 13, please provide a breakout displaying how the $21,581,853 of In-Kind legal services and the $180,000 of other In-Kind goods and services were allocated across functional expense categories in the audited Statement of Functional Expenses

As of the date of this note, March 30, 2026, we have not yet received a response. If the Organization provides an adequate response to the above questions in the future, CharityWatch may update the Organization's fiscal 2024 rating at that time.

CharityWatch's most recent letter grade rating of the Organization was a "D" on our "A+" to "F" rating scale based on our analysis of its fiscal 2021 IRS Form 990 and audited financial statements. That year the charity spent 48% of its cash expenses on programs and 52% on overhead, which includes fundraising and management expenses. It cost the charity $9 to raise each $100 in cash support that year.