Ave Maria Press Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
351283188
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Notre Dame, IN, USA
Phone
5742872831
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Religious Printing, Publishing
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,565,819
Expenses
$3,578,592
Assets
$13,355,564
Liabilities
$1,873,765

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREY CIRCOSTA (PUBLISHER/CEO)
  • REV WILLIAM LIES CSC (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREY CIRCOSTA (PUBLISHER/CEO): $175,464 total reported compensation
  • JOSH NOEM (EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/SECRETARY): $138,686 total reported compensation
  • DAVID DITS (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $125,055 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1865 at notre dame, Indiana, ave maria press, inc, a ministry of the congregation of holy cross united states province, inc, is a catholic publishing company. They serve the spiritual and formative needs of the church and its schools, institutions, and ministers, christian individuals and families, and others seeking spiritual nourishment. In the tradition of the holy cross, they are committed, as educators in the faith, to helping people know, love and serve god and to spreading the gospel of jesus through books and other resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

Publication and distribution of books and other religious texts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.4%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.73; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.5%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $175K · 18 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.