Annual Reviews

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941156476
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
San Mateo, CA, USA
Phone
6504934400
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,950,987
Expenses
$21,317,588
Assets
$6,577,011
Liabilities
$7,370,606

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD GALLAGHER (PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF)

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD GALLAGHER (PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF): $540,191 total reported compensation
  • JONATHAN MICHAEL (CFO): $352,449 total reported compensation
  • ANDREA LOPEZ (DIRECTOR OF SALES/PARTNERSHIPS/INIT.): $318,163 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 mission of annual reviews is dedicated to synthesizing and integrating knowledge for the progress of science and the benefit of society.

What it reported doing in 2024

Periodicals - includes katina, against the grain, and the charleston advisor. Katina is a digital publication that addresses the value of librarians to society and elevates their role as trusted stewards of knowledge. Against the grain is a digital publication with the latest news about libraries, publishers, book jobbers, and subscription agents, with a goal to link publishers, vendors, and librarians by reporting on the issues, literature, and people that impact the world of books and journals. The charleston advisor was discontinued in july 2024. It was a peer-reviewed publication that reviewed proprietary and free internet resources that libraries license and make available to their patrons.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 90% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 5
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 65.8%; rating input score 66; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -25.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.12; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.3%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -20% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $16.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $540K · 29 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.