Listening to America Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465726534
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Bismarck, ND, USA
Phone
3608050877
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Radio

Reported finances

Revenue
$308,807
Expenses
$245,852
Assets
$614,391
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Clay Jenkinson (Vice President)
  • Dennis McKenna (President)

People named in this filing

  • Clay Jenkinson (Vice President)
  • Bob Graves (Director)
  • Russ Eagle (Secretary/Treas)

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

Listening to America is an educational and journalistic initiative dedicated to helping Americans better understand one another through exploring our shared past and collective present. Our goal is to enable citizens across all social, economic and political groups find more inclusive ground and build a better future together.

What it reported doing in 2024

Journalistic and Educational Essays - As Clay traveled around the country, he regularly reports the people and places he encountered, as well as on historic and contemporary news items from around the country. These essays were submitted on a weekly basis to LTA consultants to edit and publish on the LTA website: LTAmerica.org. These articles are regularly included in Listening to Americas weekly electronic newsletter sent at no charge to subscribers. Topics covered included Native American History, issues and challenges of water usage and availability in the west, the history and importance of national parks and public lands, U.S. presidential and constitutional history and more. In addition to the weekly LTA podcast/radio program these journalistic/education essays and articles are a central part of LTAs work to inform and educate readers/listeners about the overlooked historical and contemporary stories and issues shaping Americas people and places.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 54
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 95.7%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • 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: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.5; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 45.3% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.2% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.7% of revenue deployed · 95.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $235K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: 5 of 6 not reported.