Echo Publishing

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
933556557
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Mears, MI, USA
Phone
2313018149
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Reported finances

Revenue
$439,510
Expenses
$491,024
Assets
$57,427
Liabilities
$191,520

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL ERICKSON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • AMANDA DODGE (VICE PRESIDE): $48,000 total reported compensation
  • ANDRIAN ROBERTS (MEMBER): $41,600 total reported compensation
  • SHARON HALLACK (SECRETARY): $9,575 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Echo publishing inc., (epi) mission is to serve the residents and visitors of oceana and northern muskegon counties by providing weekly news and information; giving readers the opportunity to be more informed and more involved in their communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

News and information in 2024, echo publishing provided approximately 754,000 issues of paper to readers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 40
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.8%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 60%; rating input score 60; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.34; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 56% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 82.9% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 174.4% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.8% of revenue deployed · 78.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $386K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $48K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.