National Public Radio Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520907625
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2025132000
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$354,056,068
Expenses
$335,494,087
Assets
$424,637,380
Liabilities
$255,321,116

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

Leadership & pay

54 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHERINE R MAHER (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHERINE R MAHER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $697,251 total reported compensation
  • STEVEN INSKEEP (SR. HOST): $565,721 total reported compensation
  • MICHEL MARTIN (SR. HOST): $559,098 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

National public radio, inc. (npr) collaborates with member public radio stations to create a more informed public, one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding of events, ideas, and cultures. Npr advances this mission by producing and distributing noncommercial programming that meets the highest standards of journalism and cultural expression, advocating for member stations' shared interests, and operating the satellite interconnection system for public radio.

What it reported doing in 2024

Network, digital, and content support: funding in this category supports npr's product audience technology (pat), content support, and member partnership activities. Pat continued npr's public service by offering free content across web, mobile, and third-party platforms, reaching approximately 42 million users weekly. Through unified mobile apps, npr delivered real-time news, live audio and video streams, on-demand media, extensive archives, and digital-exclusive reporting. Behind the scenes, the content support team managed critical logistics for all reporting activities. This included deploying equipment and security packages for traveling journalists, coordinating travel for breaking news, conducting editorial research, and providing comprehensive field, software, and international bureau support. Finally, the member partnership team coordinated services for npr's 244 member organizations, which include universities, government entities, and community 501(c)(3)s. These members operate 1,035 public radio stations, part of a larger footprint of 1,101 total stations broadcasting npr programming. Drawing upon the strength of the network, npr collaborates with member stations on newsgathering, program development, community engagement, fundraising, and industry representation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 65%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: 5.2%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.27; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.6; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63% of revenue deployed · 65% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $218.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $697K · 54 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $21.5M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 269 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 247 filed related-organization links
  • 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 scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.