Media Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942563400
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4157469475
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,487,622
Expenses
$1,472,758
Assets
$1,536,101
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Tracy Rosenberg (ED): $49,320 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

MA was founded with the belief that in order to ensure the free and unfettered flow of information and ideas necessary to maintain a truly democratic society, media must be accessible, accountable, decentralized, representative of society's diversity and free from covert or overt government control and corporate dominance. MA dedicates itself to fostering a genuine diversity of media voices and perspectives, holding the media accountable for their impact on society and protecting freedom of speech.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fiscally sponsor related projects that have not yet achieved independent corporate status. List follows: The Book of Vaughn (documentary film), The Frisc (hyper-local news site), Obscured (podcast), WhistleBlower Network News (informational website), Tikun Olam (informational website), Golden Hills Inclusive Education Foundation (public education), Bloc by Block (hyper-local news site), Out in the Bay (podcast), Elevate Media (media services), ACorrection (podcast), Thy Neighbor (documentary film), Oakland Workers Fund (public education), RepCo (public education), Mutiny Radio (podcast), Underwater Transformational Photography Project (photography), Apparel for Activism (public education), Searching for Kapwa (documentary film), Climate Money Watchdog (informational website), OpenArchive (software), Our Town, Reno (hyer-local news site), Trans Bloom (cultural support), On Spec (podcast), New Energy Times (public education), Late Bloom (documentary film), Bay Area Action History Project (public education), Greetings from St Helena (short film), Carmel Mission (documentary film), You Approached With Such Ambivalence (short film), Social Justice Writing Club at George Washington High School (education), Don't Call The Police (public education), Krupskaya Press (publishing), Bay Swan (cultural support), Blues in Motion (cultural support), Dillonwood Productions (cultural support), (Saint Anthony Initiative (cultural support), Gratitude Community Development (cultural support).

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 78% for direct work, 21% for grants, and 1% for member benefits.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 48.9%; rating input score 49; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.8% of revenue deployed · 72.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $49K · 5 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $137K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.