Crosscut Public Media

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800307914
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2063826137
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$464,719
Expenses
$588,860
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRADLEY BAGSHAW (PRESIDENT)
  • TAMARA POWER-DRUTIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TAMARA POWER-DRUTIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $63,563 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL CRYSTAL (CONSULTANT, ACTING CFO): $28,600 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Crosscut's mission is to foster and produce public-interest journalism that enriches the civic conversation in seattle and the northwest.

What it reported doing in 2015

Crosscut is a nonprofit, member-supported news web site for seattle and the northwest. More than 70 writers contribute news and commentary on a wide range of subjects: politics, cultural affairs, education, the environment, and business. During 2015, crosscut had approximately 1,160,000 unique visitors and 3,200,000 page views.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 66.3%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd 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: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -26.7%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.7% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -27.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.1% of revenue deployed · 66.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $391K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $64K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2011 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.