Essential Public Media Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
451262799
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2014
Forms available
Form 990 2014
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone
4123819131
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Radio

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,984,982
Expenses
$3,445,888
Assets
$7,719,751
Liabilities
$3,060,052

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HARRIS JONES (PRESIDENT / TREASURER)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEANNE HAMILTON (GENERAL MANAGER): $159,275 total reported compensation
  • SARAH WEMPLE (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE/HR): $74,780 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to work for the public to inform people in ways that engage and inspire them to create dialog about community issues and stories. As southwestern Pennsylvania's only independent public radio news and information station, we give voice to provocative ideas that foster a vibrant, informed, diverse and caring community.

What it reported doing in 2014

The corporation operates an educational public radio broadcasting station (wesa - 90.5fm). Epm provides local and nationally syndicated news and talk shows to western Pennsylvania and surrounding regions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 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; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -15.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.24; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.3% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $159K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2012 to 2014
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.