Cardinal Productions Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871532828
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Roanoke, VA, USA
Phone
5404672189
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Citizen Participation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,362,826
Expenses
$1,422,699
Assets
$1,282,627
Liabilities
$69,918

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Luanne Rife (Executive Director)
  • Caroline Glickman (President, Board of Directors)

Highest reported compensation

  • Luanne Rife (Executive Director): $108,323 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cardinal News, an independent, nonprofit news organization, reports the untold stories of Southwest and Southside Virginia, and strengthens the voices of the people in our communities who have been sidelined in the commonwealth's political, economic and cultural conversations simply because of where they live.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cardinal News continued to grow during 2024 and added an executive editor, reporter and part-time copy editor, and enjoyed its first full year with a development team. Cardinal Productions Inc. board of directors enlarged its membership from three to five members, updated the bylaws and activated two committees: governance and development. Cardinal News is managed in a thoughtful, considered manner in order to serve its mission and to secure a sustainable financial path. During 2024, Cardinal News doubled the readers of its newsletters, published 2,000 stories and hosted 2.7 million visitors to its websites, who accounted for more than 4.7 million page views. It published a daily, weekly, political, weather and events newsletters, and created a podcast to complement its 3-year project, Cardinal 250, to tell the little-known stories of Virginia's role in the march to independence in advance of the nation's semiquincentennial. Cardinal News won numerous awards from the Virginia Press Association, including the sweepstakes award for online organizations and Young Journalist of the Year. Through our journalism, we continue to provide independent information to the people of our communities, and to elevate their stories to Virginians living elsewhere.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.4%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.9; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 37.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.6% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $108K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.