Granite State News Collaborative
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 883783560
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
- Location
- Keene, NH, USA
- Phone
- 6037623302
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Media, Communications Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $225,773
- Expenses
- $169,991
- Assets
- $210,307
- Liabilities
- $205
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Melanie Plenda (Executive Director)
- Dawn DeAngelis (President/Director)
- Carol Robidoux (Vice President/Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Melanie Plenda (Executive Director): $40,831 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Granite State News Collaborative is a statewide multimedia news collaborative that draws on and amplifies the strengths of its members to expand and add missing dimensions to coverage of issues of concern to the NH public as a whole, as well as to particular communities. Through coordinated reporting and engagement activities, the Collaborative will pursue inclusive and responsive coverage that builds public trust and holds government accountable to its citizens.
What it reported doing in 2024
Investigative and Data-Driven Journalism Projects Objective: To produce high-impact investigative stories on urgent issues affecting New Hampshire communities, particularly those underreported by individual outlets. Activities: GSNC contracts a team of investigative freelancers and data reporters who collaborate with local editors to produce in-depth, original stories. Topics covered include housing insecurity, public health disparities, digital equity, education funding, and zoning policies. In 2023-2024, GSNC produced more than 300 deeply reported stories and projects for its partner local news outlets. GSNC also partners with academic institutions, such as Boston University and the University of New Hampshire, to deepen reporting with expert research support.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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.
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: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 59
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 60.5%; rating input score 60
- Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 24.7%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.24; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 24%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 60.5% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $137K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $41K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 1 filing year from 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.