News Leaders Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
239935413
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbia, MO, USA
Phone
2029640912
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$54,491
Expenses
$1,050,912
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALISON GERBER (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • ROBYN TOMLIN (PRESIDENT)
  • AUDREY COOPER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MYRIAM MARQUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MYRIAM MARQUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $16,380 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The nla foundation works to raise charitable donations in support of nla and its vital commitment to leading america's newsrooms. Since its establishment in 1979, the foundation has raised and expended millions of dollars in support of nla projects and initiatives and to stimulate new thinking in areas critically important to newspaper, digital and broadcast editors and the news industry.

What it reported doing in 2024

The nla awards honor the best in newsroom leadership, diversity leadership and protection of a free press in 11 categories. The prize money for each award comes from sponsorships by different news organizations and foundations. In 2024, nla transferred designated funds to the poynter institute to carry on conducting the awards.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 85% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 5
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • 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; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1,828.6%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -13.4% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -20% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.3% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $887K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $16K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.