Association of Opinion Journalists Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521250171
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2016–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2015, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
St Petersburg, FL, USA
Phone
7275534338
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$59,436
Expenses
$56,892
Assets
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID HAYNES (President)

People named in this filing

  • DAVID HAYNES (President)
  • DAN MORAIN (Treasurer)
  • JENNIFER HEMMINGSEN (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Association of Opinion Journalists Foundation, Inc. was established in 1981 as the National Conference of Editorial Writers Foundation, Inc. to conduct, sponsor and support educational programs and projects in the field of opinion journalism. The AOJ Foundation provides financial support for projects that it believes will advance this mission and contribute to the achievement of the following goals: Enhance the value of opinion writing and editorials as forums of informed public discussion; Help opinion writers and editors provide readers and viewers with insights needed to make sound decisions on important public issues; Help opinion writers and editors translate facts and information into that most precious quality, understanding; Improve the skills of opinion writers and editors; Attract talented students and outstanding active journalists into opinion writing and editing; Actively promote racial, gender and ethnic diversity among opinion writers and editors; Continually re-examine th

What it reported doing in 2016

State Department Briefing: In late April, AOJ, with the support of the AOJ Foundation, organized a one-day visit with diplomats at the U.S. State Department. AOJs volunteers contacted State and set up the events; the Foundation covered travel expenses up to $200 for each of the 13 participants. State Department personnel presented a series of one-hour workshops throughout the day on the current state of affairs in various regions of the world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Assets have declined or grown slowly and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.9%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 69.9%; rating input score 70

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.3%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -25.3% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.9% of revenue deployed · 69.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $40K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 5 of 5 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.