Carolina Public Press Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460801080
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
8287745290
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Reported finances

Revenue
$560,505
Expenses
$544,503
Assets
$183,582
Liabilities
$5,404

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR ELLEN HELMS (PRESIDENT)
  • CALVIN HALL (VICE PRESIDENT (FROM 3/2024))
  • SCOTT BARNWELL (PRESIDENT (TERM 12/2024))
  • FRANK TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (FROM 11/2024))

Highest reported compensation

  • LISA LOPEZ (INTERIM EXEC DIR (TERM 11/24)): $95,023 total reported compensation
  • FRANK TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (FROM 11/2024)): $94,457 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Carolina public press is an independent nonprofit news organization dedicated to nonpartisan, in-depth and investigative news built upon the facts and context north carolinians need to know. Our award-winning, breakthrough journalism dismantles barriers and shines a light on the critical overlooked and under-reported issues facing our state's more than 11 million residents.

What it reported doing in 2024

Carolina public press's 2024 goals were to provide nonpartisan, in-depth and investigative news built upon the facts and context north carolinians need to know. Our award-winning, breakthrough public-interest journalism dismantles barriers and shines a light on the critical overlooked and under-reported issues facing our state's 10.7 million residents. Our overall goals were to provide high-quality, context-rich and fact-based news for free to audiences, to provide journalism for and about overlooked and under-served communities and issues, and to engage communities about some of the most pressing issues facing the state. Carolina public press also remains wholly independent and nonpartisan. Our 2024 accomplishments include increasing free and reliable access to quality news. The organization published news and investigative news reports on topics ranging from government accountability and transparency, access to voting and elections, economic challenges in rural communities, the future of the state's national forests, staffing shortages in n.c. Nursing homes, loss of protection for isolated n.c. Wetlands, wildfires in western n.c., migrant workers facing a challenging n.c. System, access to public information and data, and more. Carolina public press began as one part of the solution to reversing the reduction of investigative and public service journalism. Our readers, listeners, and members have helped that vision become a reality.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.9%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.1% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $421K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.