Tzl Community & Education Initiative
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Theta Zeta Lambda (TZL) Alumni Chapter, a part of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., is fully committed to carrying out our National Organization's Mission Statement: to develop leader, promote brotherhood and academic excellence, while also providing advocacy and service to our communities. By demonstrating "manly deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind, we enforce the Aims of our Fraternity by directly engaging with our communities through donations and youth programs.
- Income
- $90,659
- Spending
- $75,219
- Reserves
- 8.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- other income, 80%
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 90 out of 100. Higher than 75% of charities in its peer group (youth development, under $250k).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 8.6 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 17% of income.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $9,070 spent. TZL Chapter, along with the TZL Scholarship Fund (The Fund), presented 14 high school graduating seniors from the Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and surrounding areas with a $1,500 scholarship. Our contribution to this endeavor was $9,070, and The Fund covered the balance. This allowed for a total of $21,000 to be awarded to deserving high school graduates in 2025. These awards were given out at our 29th Annual Student Recognition Banquet in May of 2025. Since the establishment of The Fund in the mid-80's, we have helped to give out 232 scholarships worth $218,000. [Note: Because I filed this Form 990-EZ late for the 2024 tax year (August 2025 was the filing period), I unfortunately included the number of scholarships and their total cost for 2025 as well. For 2024, the number of scholarships given to that point in time was 218, with a net worth of $197K. The addition of the 14 scholarships for 2025 totaling $21K brings the total number of scholarships and cost to what is reported above.]
- $11,219 spent. Our Dr. Thomas A. Bass Caring and Sharing (C&S) Food Basket Program provides tangible support to families in the Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and surrounding areas with assistance in the form of food baskets and/or gift cards. During the Holiday Seasons of Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, the Brothers of TZL purchase all of the food, assemble the food baskets at a local elementary school, and then deliver at least 95% of all food baskets and gift cards (a few families will pick up their food baskets). For Easter 2025, we helped 41 families with food basket that totaled $2,134.06. We more than doubled our efforts for Thanksgiving 2025, and actually had to stop taking requests and referrals once we reached 170 families. That equated to 58 food baskets and 112 gift cards for a total of $5,825.35. Christmas 2025 was more along the lines of Easter, and we distributed 50 food baskets and 7 gift cards, totaling $2,519.20. In addition to food baskets and gift card for those events, TZL Chapter put together 40 essential hygiene kits (total cost = $412.00) that were handed out to 40 families a week or two before Thanksgiving, and we paired with an organization called Young Lives of Belleville-Ypsilanti to help two families with their Christmas wish list and a monetary gift (total cost = $328.03). Finally, we participated in the 2nd Annual Coat Drive sponsored by the non-profit organization Real Agape of Southeastern Michigan. This organization accepted new and clean, slightly used coats and winter attire for men, women and children of all ages. TZL Brothers donated 15 coats in total and not once did any Brother disclose the finances behind their donation, thus, there is no dollar amount that can be report for this last act of charity.
- $1,906 spent. Our Esquire Leadership and Mentor Program (ELMP) was revamped and revitalized for the 2025-26 Fraternal Year. The Mission of the program did not change at all, and remains steadfast on empowering young black men, ages 12-17, with a sense of achieving a high level of education, leadership, and service to humanity. Our Vision is to prepare these young men to become highly educated leaders that are able to guide their families, but also be socially conscientious enough to realize that their leadership skills and positive role model propensities are essential to the communities in which they live. To that end, there were 36 young men that successfully filled out the application for the ELMP, and of that number, roughly 32 regularly attend our scheduled meetings and planned events. Their parents/guardians also play a positive role in the success of this program (if just for merely bringing them to our events), and we have 41 such individuals signed to our roster, with about 35 that participate on a relatively consistent basis. The mentoring part of ELMP is facilitated by the Brothers of TZL Chapter. We have 35 trained and certified "Mentors", to interact with our Esquires in a one on one fashion, and a few of our TZL members have agreed to take on more than one Esquire to that no one is left out. I do not have enough characters in this box to describe the breath and depth of this reinvigorated program, so I encourage the reviewer of this tax preparation to visit our website, Annarboralphas.org, to see first hand the scope of what we are trying to do in the ELMP. The website has all the information about TZL Chapter, the yearly calendar of events that we sponsor and/or participate in, all of our programs, how individuals and organizations can become financial sponsors to some of our programs (and the level of sponsorship available), and other pertinent information as it relates to the Chapter. There are 13 headers containing information on just the EMLP, once you click on the Alpha Esquire logo, and all this was created and is currently being maintained for the most part, by one extraordinary Brother. This Brother also has acquired ~75% of the roughly $10,500 ELMP budget for the 2025-26 Fraternal Year through a written grant proposal and donations acquired in 2025. Most of the money for the EMLP was spent in the first three months on 2026, and therefore, will be reported on next year's tax forms.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Worth knowing.
Status was revoked on May 15, 2022 for not filing returns for three years, and reinstated on May 15, 2022.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since January 2023.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.