Open Campus Media Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842427054
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2402834856
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,463,790
Expenses
$2,973,668
Assets
$3,297,082
Liabilities
$67,080

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SCOTT SMALLWOOD (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARIA ARCHANGELO (CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER): $191,446 total reported compensation
  • SCOTT SMALLWOOD (PRESIDENT): $181,062 total reported compensation
  • SARA HEBEL (EDITOR-IN-CHIEF): $171,652 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2024

Open campus local reporting network: we combine support from national, regional, and local funders to create long-term partnerships that advance sophisticated coverage of the higher ed beat. Through the open campus local reporter network, we collaborate every week with reporters in partner newsrooms, coaching them on coverage, providing story guidance, doing big-picture editing, and connecting them with national data, sources, and context. They benefit from connections with one another and from monthly open campus reporting workshops. They are employed by their local newsrooms, and stories are published by the local newsroom and open campus. Open campus staff editors work with the partner newsrooms to produce high-quality work. They also send out (continued on sch o)newsletters about the work to open campus subscribers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 59% for direct work, and 41% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.9%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th 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: -20.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 43.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 49.3% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.9% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 22 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 17 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.