Oregon Newspapers Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930699926
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone
5036246397
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$47,830
Expenses
$58,524
Assets
$536,443
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHELSEA MARR (PRESIDENT)
  • LAURIE HIEB (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURIE HIEB (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $134,525 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To support journalism education

What it reported doing in 2024

Competition, scholarship, and training - Oregon newspapers foundation, inc. (onf) supports journalism education through direct scholarships to individuals or journalism departments and by creating educational programs. There were (1,152) editorial entries in 2024-2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 68% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 71.1%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: -22.4%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.17; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 42.1%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.6% per year; rating input score 0; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93% of revenue deployed · 71.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $42K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $135K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.