Capital B News Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853905902
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
9177834354
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,853,158
Expenses
$5,888,394
Assets
$8,194,556
Liabilities
$259,243

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAUREN WILLIAMS (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAUREN WILLIAMS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $283,918 total reported compensation
  • AKOTO OFORI-ATTA (TREASURER/SECRETARY/CAO): $262,698 total reported compensation
  • GILLIAN WHITE (CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER OF R): $249,116 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To connect and engage with black communities to deliver trustworthy journalism that informs, empowers, and creates meaningful change for black people in america.

What it reported doing in 2024

Capital b strengthened its local newsroom teams through the addition of an atlanta editor and enhanced its community engagement initiatives. These efforts supported the production of original, impactful news coverage focused on serving and informing black communities with trusted, relevant journalism.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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 total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.6%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 59.3%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th 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: -0.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.39; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.8%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.6% of revenue deployed · 59.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $284K · 12 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $425K reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.