Nashville Public Media Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831703750
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
3125502349
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,411,799
Expenses
$1,292,401
Assets
$233,037
Liabilities
$45,557

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steve Cavendish (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Steve Cavendish (President): $97,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To empower the people of Nashville to make informed decisions by providing non-partisan journalism from an independent, nonprofit newsroom.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Banner launched as a daily website in March 2024, providing information about Nashville and Tennessee around the following beats: Courts, Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Metropolitan Government and Tennessee State Government. The Banner provided in-depth coverage about the 2025 state and federal elections, including interviews with candidates, stories about advertising, campaign finance and issues affecting Tennessee residents. The publication also launched Banner & Company, a weekly interview podcast about individuals and issues affecting Nashville and Tennessee.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.4%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st 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: Limited
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.5%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 67.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 51.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.4% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $909K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $98K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.