National Captioning Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 521144663
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Chantilly, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7039177646
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Deaf/Hearing Impaired Centers
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $13,082,369
- Expenses
- $13,064,646
- Assets
- $8,909,274
- Liabilities
- $999,936
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Gene Chao (Chairman, President & CEO)
- Meredith Patterson (President/Chief Operating)
Highest reported compensation
- Gene Chao (Chairman, President & CEO): $325,613 total reported compensation
- Beth Nubbe (Executive VP/Chief Adminis): $185,489 total reported compensation
- Meredith Patterson (President/Chief Operating): $179,881 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
National Captioning Institute is a nonprofit corporation whose primary purposes are to deliver effective captioning services and encourage, develop and fund the continuing development of captioning, subtitling and other media access services for the benefit of people who require additional access to auditory and visual information. As its resources permit and opportunities unfold with the development of new technology, NCI will support services to people who are deaf or hard of hearing and others who, for whatever reason, wherever situated and irrespective of their economic conditions, are limited in their ability to participate fully in the world of auditory or visual communications.
What it reported doing in 2025
NCI supports and empowers people who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as diverse communities by providing access to the audio portions of television programs, movies, and other events and performances, through closed and open captioning, subtitling, construction and sales of captioning equipment and other related services; and by developing described video for people who are blind or have low vision.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.6%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 78.6% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $326K · 12 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.