Indianapolis Press Club Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
351813985
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
7657304283
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$45,494
Expenses
$83,648
Assets
$1,158,197
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Oseye Boyd (Vice President)
  • Michael Sanserino (President)

People named in this filing

  • Ebony Chappel (Director)
  • Max Gersh (Director)
  • Malcom Moran (Director)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Indianapolis Press Club Foundation, Inc. (IPCF) engages in activities to promote excellence in and public appreciation for journalism in Indiana. IPCF's activities include, but are not limited to, scholarships, paid fellowships, and awards for Indiana college students.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Indianapolis Press Club Foundation runs three main programs:1) The Thomas R. Keating writing competition, which is a two-day journalism competition held annually in November. The contest began in 1986 and is a tribute to former Indianapolis Star columnist Tom Keating. Ten undergraduate students compete for a total of $7,000 in cash awards.2) In partnership with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the foundation awards three Last Row Party scholarships to Indiana undergraduate journalism students. The Foundation hands out these awards at its annual fundraiser at the end of May, which is called the Last Row Party and held at the Pagoda at IMS. The Foundation distributes a total of about $3,000 in scholarships for news, features and sports writing.3) The Indianapolis Press Club Foundation board has a paid summer fellowship program each year for two Indiana college journalism students. The 10-week fellowships pay $6,000 to each student and provides solid journalism experience at Indianapolis area news services and/or TV and radio stations. Summer fellows work 40 hours per week. The Foundation seeks to partner with a variety of local media groups and rotates selections as part of its ongoing commitment to provide paid fellowships at Indiana media organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 62% for direct work, and 38% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -83.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.85; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 78.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $66K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.