California Broadcasters Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951561138
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9164442237
Rating
39
Verdict
REVIEW
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,127,620
Expenses
$1,614,534
Assets
$2,106,034
Liabilities
$34,402

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Joe Berry (President & CEO)
  • Mark Powers (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Joe Berry (President & CEO): $497,654 total reported compensation
  • Mark Powers (Vice President): $245,650 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 California Broadcasters Association promotes customs and practices in the best interests of broadcasters and the publics they serve. The impetus of this mission rests in the belief that broadcasters play an essential role in their communities. Their powerful influence is given and guarded by the fundamental rights of this country and in return, each radio and television station must operate "in the public interest. Broadcasters offer a diverse range of general awareness and audience education, coordinate charitable events, donate to philanthropic organizations and causes and support local events. The California Broadcasters Association provides whatever assistance owners and station managers need to fulfill their duties to communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The California Broadcasters Association (State Association) has long maintained a Noncommercial Sustaining Announcement Program (NCSA Program). Under this program, member and nonmember radio and television stations in the state voluntarily donate air time that is made available, through the State Association, to governmental and not-for-profit organizations (NCSA Sponsors) for the airing of their messages (NCSA Announcements). Those NCSA Announcements generally afford state-wide coverage of a NCSA Sponsor's activities, events and programs which benefit the public at large. The NCSA Program is a major benefit to these governmental and not-for-profit NCSA Sponsors because the money paid by them represents but a fraction of the fair market value of the announcements if they had been purchased from stations. The money received from the NCSA Sponsors goes directly to the State Association and is used by the State Association for its tax-exempt purposes, including to foster better relations between the broadcast industry and governmental entities and nonprofit organizations, as well as to advance and strengthen the broadcast industry generally.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

REVIEW - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -43.2%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.3; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $498K · 18 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 11 of 12 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 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.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.