New Bedford Light

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862407296
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
New Bedford, MA, USA
Phone
2155196846
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,979,232
Expenses
$1,791,522
Assets
$1,837,755
Liabilities
$58,451

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANIELA F MELO (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEAN O CAMARA (CHIEF EXECUT): $130,000 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW TOMOLONIS (EDITOR): $126,719 total reported compensation
  • COLLEEN TRAHAN (CHIEF ADMINI): $90,972 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We seek to inform and nourish the civic culture of new bedford and surrounding towns by providing in-depth, fact-based journalism and a broad platform for diverse community voices. Through our innovative journalism incubator project we promote media literacy and educate the public about the vital role of a free press in bolstering our democracy.

What it reported doing in 2024

The purposes of the corporation are exclusively charitable, educational, scientific, and/or cultural as set forth in section 501(c)(3) of the united states internal revenue code (the "code"), or the corresponding section of the future federal tax code. Specifically, the corporation will carry out these purposes with the goal of engaging in investigative journalism, using institutional expertise to research and educate the public about particular topics, and provide the public with an online news outlet covering topics important to the greater new bedford area and which will benefit the community as a whole. In connection with these purposes, the corporation may collaborate with governmental entities and/or other non-profit organizations which are qualified as exempt under section 501 (c)(3) of the code.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.4%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 9.5%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.4% of revenue deployed · 67.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.