CSF Associates Publius

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232134483
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Easton, PA, USA
Phone
6105150438
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$166,873
Expenses
$84,967
Assets
$2,868,672
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • John Kincaid (President)
  • Joseph Marbach (Vice president)

People named in this filing

  • John Kincaid (President)
  • Joseph Marbach (Vice president)
  • J Wesley Leckrone (Secretary-Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Research on federalism and publication of scholarly journal entitled Publius: The Journal of Federalism.

What it reported doing in 2025

All income is derived from the sale & subscription of the Publius publication.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 70% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 72% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 28
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 35%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 98.6%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 54.9%; rating input score 55; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 37.5%; rating input score 38; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 49.1%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 33.76; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 35% of revenue deployed · 98.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $84K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 17 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 38/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 55/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.