Capital of Texas Media Foundation

Overview

Mission

The organization was formed to promote public understanding of, and engagement in, local public and governmental issues. The community served will be the central Texas community in and around austin, travis county, Texas. The organization intends on accomplishing its mission through (1) free and open-to-the public events and forums intended to educate and engage the community concerning state and local issues, (2) partnerships with other nonprofit organizations that also have missions to engage and inform, and (3) the online dissemination of news and data concerning local government and civic issues, including data obtained through open records/freedom of information requests.

What it reported doing in 2024

Produced regular, unbiased news coverage for public consumption, publishing content five days a week. Offered twice-daily email updates of important news events aimed at increasing civic engagement, hosted six forums featuring all of the candidates seeking city council office. All events were free and open to the public. In addition, forums were live-streamed (also free) and both events sought and incorporated public input. Produced weekly radio programs for koop radio broadcast and podcast, covering local elections, politics and key civic issues. Made regular appearances on kut expanding on coverage found in the monitor.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463398438
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5129054223
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $819.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.6%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.4% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $424K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 annual filings from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JOEL GROSS (CEO): $143,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.