Freedom of the Press Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460967274
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
5109950780
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,247,546
Expenses
$7,218,824
Assets
$21,453,873
Liabilities
$791,719

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RAINEY REITMAN (PRESIDENT)
  • LOUISE BLACK (VICE PRESIDENT OF DEV. & OPS.)
  • ERIK MOELLER (VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING)
  • KIRSTIN MCCUDDEN (VICE PRESIDENT OF EDITORIAL)

Highest reported compensation

  • TREVOR TIMM (ED/BOARD MEMBER): $316,648 total reported compensation
  • LOUISE BLACK (VICE PRESIDENT OF DEV. & OPS.): $230,742 total reported compensation
  • HARLO HOLMES (CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER): $213,037 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At freedom of the press foundation (fpf), our mission is to protect and defend press freedom in the 21st century. We do this through:1.) public advocacy on issues affecting press freedom, including government transparency, the right to publish, reporter's privilege, freedom of information act reform, and protecting whistleblowers.2.) maintaining and developing open-source digital security tools, like securedrop, our whistleblower submission system.3.) education on digital security tools that journalists can use to protect themeselves and their sources when communicating online.4.) systematically document and catalogue press freedom violations in the united states.5.) legal advocacy for press freedom and transparency through foia requests, amicus briefs, and other avenues in court.

What it reported doing in 2024

Reporting and advocacy - fpf's us press freedom tracker is a news site and database that comprehensively documents virtually every press freedom violation in the united states, including the number of journalists arrested, stopped at the border, subpoenaed, physically attacked, surveilled, and more. Fpf's advocay team fights on both a local and national level for robust press freedom rights on a variety of issues including reporter's privilege, the right to publish, the freedom of information act, the protection of whistleblowers, and government transparency.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% 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

STRONG - 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: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th 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: -37.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.97; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $317K · 14 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $642K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.