Community News Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833525020
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Harrisonville, MO, USA
Phone
2024224999
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,083,031
Expenses
$9,896,346
Assets
$493,577
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AMBER WEEMS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • RAKESH DONTHINENI (PRESIDENT)
  • STEVE APPEL (PAST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVE APPEL (PAST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $30,000 total reported compensation
  • AMBER WEEMS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $4,000 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 restore community-based journalism, including through grants, as well as development of digital platforms.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided content underwriting support for news reporting on more than 1,000 online news sites that are focused on community news. Published more than 100,000 articles per month relating to local issues, including data from government databases and industry sources, interviews with citizens, and in-depth reporting. Articles were viewed by more than 1 million readers.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.5%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 99.4%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21,272.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.9%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.3%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 42% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.8% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.5% of revenue deployed · 99.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $9.8M reported
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.