Council on Library and Information Resources

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521576808
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
2022571269
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,315,817
Expenses
$9,609,302
Assets
$20,789,312
Liabilities
$638,366

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHARLES HENRY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHARLES HENRY (PRESIDENT): $374,635 total reported compensation
  • JULIE SYNDER (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $229,708 total reported compensation
  • WAYNE GRAHAM (CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER): $211,889 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Clir is an independent, nonprofit organization that forges strategies to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities of higher learning.

What it reported doing in 2024

Scholarship and research: explore and assess new methodologies, emerging fields of inquiry, intellectual strategies involving data gathering and collaboration, and modes of communication, including sharing of research data and publishing models, that are likely to define the next generation of scholars.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 47% for direct work, and 53% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 91.5%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 75.4%; rating input score 75; 15th 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: 15.1%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.16; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.7%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.4% of revenue deployed · 91.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $375K · 24 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 45 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.