CatchLight

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271912845
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-PF 2016
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4153230549
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,711,054
Expenses
$3,287,416
Assets
$2,769,814
Liabilities
$198,417

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Elodie Mailliet Storm (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Elodie Mailliet Storm (CEO): $336,440 total reported compensation
  • Erica Garber (VP of Development): $219,923 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Stratton (Executive Editor): $195,028 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CatchLight is a hybrid nonprofit media organization combining the practices of art, journalism and social justice. We are a transformational force, urgently bringing resources and organizations together to nurture and grow a thriving visual ecosystem. We leverage the power of visuals to inform, connect and transform communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

CatchLight's Local Program works to build a local news ecosystem that is thriving in communities across the US, where everyone sees themselves represented in their local media, and where social cohesion and trust is rebuilt. Our approach to this work is three-pronged: We partner with newsrooms through a collaborative Visual Desk, offering customized visual services, tools, mentorship, and support to strengthen newsrooms capacity to serve as trusted messengers in their communities; We advance trust and representation in local journalism by placing high-quality, community-driven photojournalists in local newsrooms throughout the US; and We convene the public like-minded people across media, academia, technology, and the arts to foster a robust and inclusive community to deepen critical thought, imagine new ways to leverage visuals for connection, and inspire action. In 2024, through the Visual Desk we supported the production of 1,114 local news stories, collectively reaching an audience of more than 546,000 people each month. Our Local Fellows and newsroom partners continued to push the boundaries of visual storytelling, earning nine awards and twelve nominations for their work. We expanded our reach and training efforts through 10 educational workshops attended by over 200 journalists, and through public programs that brought together more than 1,500 people to engage directly with the power of visual journalism.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.4%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 89.3%; rating input score 89; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.4% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $336K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $101K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 35 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.