Kernel Press Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
610719986
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Lexington, KY, USA
Phone
8592576524
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$59,437
Expenses
$67,630
Assets
$934
Liabilities
$196

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY BOLIN (MEMBER): $130,808 total reported compensation
  • MIKE FARRELL (MEMBER): $111,401 total reported compensation
  • SCOOBIE RYAN (MEMBER): $89,249 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization's mission is to educate college students in the area of journalism through publication and advertising sales assignments for a campus newspaper.

What it reported doing in 2020

Program services include education of students through publication of a campus newspaper. In addition to news items and editorial commentary, the newspaper publishes paid advertising. The sale, solicitation and publication of the advertising are conducted by students under the supervision and instruction of staff. Although the services rendered to advertisers are commercial in nature, the advertising business contributes importantly to the education program through training of the students involved. Hence, none of the income derived from publication of the newspaper constitutes gross income from unrelated trade or business.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 99% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.1%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • 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: -13.8%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.01; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -24.6% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -20.3% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -23.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.1% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $58K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $131K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.