American Public Square Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471579944
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
8166011001
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$909,010
Expenses
$645,016
Assets
$795,537
Liabilities
$8,184

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Claire Bishop (Executive Director)
  • Allan Katz (Board President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Claire Bishop (Executive Director): $129,682 total reported compensation
  • Allan Katz (Board President): $48,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

American Public Square's Mission is focused on improving the tone and quality of public discourse, creating paths toward actionable common ground.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, American Public Square (APS) expanded its public programming to address timely and often polarizing issues, hosting 18 events throughout the year which offered both in-person and online attendance. Each program was thoughtfully designed to foster civil dialogue, elevate diverse perspectives, and provide fact-based resources on topics such as policing in America, gun violence, the stadium tax debate, and the presidential election. APS also created spaces for deeper community engagement through discussion groups and topical film screenings. In addition, in 2024, APS enhanced its capacity to measure audience engagement and community impact by launching the SCIM (Social Cohesion Impact Measure) survey in partnership with the Listen First Coalition. Pre- and post-event surveys were administered to participants to assess behavioral shifts and gain insights into how APS programs influence understanding, attitudes, and discourse.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.7%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 65.8%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 29%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.7% of revenue deployed · 65.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $425K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.