Committee to Protect Journalists Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 133081500
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2124651004
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Civil Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $12,270,000
- Expenses
- $13,754,638
- Assets
- $38,360,847
- Liabilities
- $5,472,852
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
50 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JODIE GINSBERG (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JODIE GINSBERG (CEO): $371,520 total reported compensation
- HILDA ROMERO (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $281,044 total reported compensation
- JOHN D WEIS (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $273,003 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 committee to protect journalists promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. Cpj ensures the free flow of news and commentary by taking action wherever journalists are attacked, imprisoned, killed, kidnapped, threatened, censored, or harassed. Hundreds of journalists are killed, harassed, or imprisoned every year. For more than 40 years, cpj has advocated for their release, for justice and for freedom.
What it reported doing in 2024
Since 1981, cpj has defended the right of journalists to report the news safely and freely worldwide. Our organization comprises journalists and advocates who use journalism to expose and advocate on a broad range of violations. We focus on reducing the number of journalists in prison, fighting against injustice, and battling censorship and repressive legislation that governs our world's increasingly complex information landscape. We document violations and meet with government leaders to push for change, secure convictions in murders, and free jailed journalists. Our reporting and documentation inform and empower our advocacy. In doing so, we ensure access to independent information that enables all people to make decisions and hold the powerful to account. (cont. On sch o)
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 71.9%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -12.1%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.79; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 23.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 71.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 35 of 35 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $372K · 50 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $989K reported
- Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 15 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.