Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Mar 1977.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
77 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
32 people listed on the 990; $1.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Lisa Nelson’s $507K as CEO is at the 78th percentile of top reported officer pay among 232 $10–100M public & societal benefit nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisa Nelson | $507,409 | $433,318 | $470,180 | $414,332 | $413,137 |
| Lisa Bowen | $241,218 | $227,308 | $225,144 | $190,221 | $189,986 |
| Jonathan Williams | $235,218 | $225,192 | $214,759 | $174,721 | $180,098 |
| Marie Vulaj | $205,288 | $199,423 | $173,173 | $133,238 | $127,610 |
| Wilhelm Meierling | — | — | — | $146,317 | $202,788 |
| Michael Bowman | — | $144,000 | $171,399 | $165,097 | $165,100 |
| Lee Schalk | $168,953 | $161,539 | $144,631 | $123,875 | $121,116 |
| Courtney Cook | $153,445 | $146,539 | $120,351 | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See American Legislative Exchange Council executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
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Membership
Membership manages the programs for the recruitment and retention of ALEC State Legislator members. This includes liaison with the ALEC State Chairs and Private Sector State Chairs. Membership also provides assistance to ALEC State Chairs in ensuring that members of ALEC's leadership are operating in accordance with ALEC's policies and…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $4.1M | $4.9M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $570K | $474K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $6.4M | $6.4M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $2.0M | $1.2M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $4.4M | $5.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.3M | $917K | $331K | $5K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $2.3M | $1.9M | $269K | $189K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $64K | $50K | $10K | $4K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $242K | $201K | $22K | $19K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $237K | $185K | $39K | $13K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $68K | $55K | $10K | $3K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $70K | $55K | $11K | $4K |
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $110K | $110K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $444K | $411K | $8K | $25K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $232K | $232K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $350K | $207K | $27K | $116K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $165K | $131K | $26K | $9K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $408K | $319K | $66K | $23K |
| TravelLn 17 | $71K | $65K | $4K | $1K |
| Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18 | $125K | $94K | $32K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $257K | $237K | $20K | $880 |
| InterestLn 20 | $554 | $433 | $90 | $31 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $173K | $135K | $28K | $10K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $53K | $45K | $6K | $2K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $546K | $339K | $197K | $10K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $35K | $18K | $2K | $15K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $7.2M | $5.5M | $1.1M | $556K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 LatestFiled with the IRS Oct 29, 2025 | $10.9M | $10.6M | $282K | $7.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Nov 11, 2024 | $11.3M | $11.2M | $70K | $7.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Nov 8, 2023 | $10.1M | $9.5M | $624K | $7.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Nov 11, 2022 | $9.8M | $8.6M | $1.2M | $6.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS Nov 8, 2021 | $8.0M | $7.2M | $764K | $5.2M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $7,978,103 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 23 of 23 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $7,978,103 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $7,213,865 across 21 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $6,368,207 assets, 15 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $5,181,204 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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