Alabama Education Television Foundation Authority

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
636050895
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2053288756
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,330,630
Expenses
$7,253,816
Assets
$16,897,855
Liabilities
$1,010,975

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • D Wayne Reid (Executive Director)
  • Philip F Hutcheson (Interim Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • D Wayne Reid (Executive Director): $252,640 total reported compensation
  • Melissa Austin (Chief Financial Officer): $135,136 total reported compensation
  • Philip F Hutcheson (Interim Executive Director): $127,823 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The AETFA's sole purpose is to provide funding support for Alabama Public Television (APT); therefore, it fully embraces the stated mission of APT. In summary, APT is committed to enrich the lives of Alabama citizens by providing essential educational services with the highest quality direct instructional content through digital streaming; by acting as an indispensable resource of Alabama's Storyteller; by promoting Alabama to the world as a unique community postured for business and growth; by working closely with Homeland Security and state agencies to provide a statewide network to disseminate information effectively in times of disaster; by bringing the very best in the world of music, theater, dance and the arts to enrich and inspire the lives of the people of our state; and by offering programming that educates the citizenry, giving them the means and the desire to reach their highest potential through the development of a strong work ethic bonded to honesty and integrity.

What it reported doing in 2024

Programming and Broadcast Delivery:1. APT leases the majority of its content for television from the Public Broadcast System (PBS) and is a member affiliate of this distributor. APT also leases a smaller amount of its content needs from various other distributors. The AETFA assists directly with purchasing a portion of these costs which exceeded $4.03 million in fiscal 2025.2. APT leases the majority of its content for its FM-public radio station (WLRH) located in Huntsville from National Public Radio (NPR) and several other distributors. The AETFA assists directly with purchasing a portion of these costs which exceeded $290,000 in fiscal 2025.3. The engineering, utility, technical and equipment costs of broadcasting television signals over the entire state on a 24 hour-7 day basis well exceeded $6.1 million in fiscal 2025 including that of WLRH-FM. The AETFA assists with paying for these expenses by purchasing needed equipment and paying vendor invoices directly when the state appropriation has been exhausted for the year.4. APT's association and membership in nationally recognized content distributors such as PBS and NPR provide viewers and listeners in the state with quality, commercial free television and radio that they depend on as a trusted source for educational content value and entertainment integrity.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The program-spending lines do not add up, so the filing cannot show reliably whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.6%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.9%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.33; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.6% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $253K · 14 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $908K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.