Nevada News Bureau Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273192716
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012, Form 990-T 2025, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Phone
7026700976
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,548,176
Expenses
$3,106,313
Assets
$816,878
Liabilities
$41,707

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JON RALSTON (CEO & DIRECT)
  • ROBERT STOLDAL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JON RALSTON (CEO & DIRECT): $276,397 total reported compensation
  • CLIFFORD KEENEY (CHIEF TECHNO): $197,555 total reported compensation
  • BRETT BURKE (FORMER CRO): $180,012 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We will change the face of journalism in Nevada and establish new paradigms for nonprofit, community-supported news organizations.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Nevada independent is a news website founded by veteran political journalist jon ralston and focused on truthful, transparent journalism and civic engagement and education. The site launched on jan. 17, 2017 and is a project of Nevada news bureau, inc., a nonprofit founded in 2010 by blogger and journalist elizabeth thompson, who served as managing editor until 2024. She is succeeded by co-editors michelle rindels and riley snyder.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 12
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 54.7%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -21.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.6%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67% of revenue deployed · 54.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $276K · 14 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.