Primary Information Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 680655296
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 3478012619
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Printing, Publishing
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $903,916
- Expenses
- $531,025
- Assets
- $911,986
- Liabilities
- $326,633
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MATTHEW WALKER (Executive Director)
- BARRY ROSEN (Vice President)
- ALEXANDER LAU (President)
Highest reported compensation
- MATTHEW WALKER (Executive Director): $87,456 total reported compensation
- JAMES HOFF (Director): $70,495 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Primary Information is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 to publish artists books and artists writings. The organizations programming advances the often-intertwined relationship between artists books and arts activism, creating a platform for historically marginalized artistic communities and practices. Primary Information facilitates intergenerational dialogue through the simultaneous publication of new and archival books, providing a new audience for out-of-print works and historical context for contemporary artists.
What it reported doing in 2024
In FY25, Primary Information advanced its mission through the publication of 6 books:- Linda Goode Bryant and Marcy S. Philips's "Contextures." Published in an edition of 3,500.- Mary Ellen Solt's "The Collected Poems of Mary Ellen Solt." Published in an edition of 3,000.- N. H. Pritchard's "The Mundus." Published in an edition of 3,000.- "THING." Published in an edition of 5,500. - Barbara T. Smith's "I Am Abandoned." Published in an edition of 2,500. - Robert Gober's "Slides of a Changing Painting." Published in an edition of 2,500. By taking a distributable form, each publication facilitated new exposure for artists amongst a broad public, including those that might not otherwise have been able to experience the artists works. The publications provided Primary Informations audience of artists, students, and members of the general public interested in contemporary art with an accessible opportunity to experience new and archival artists books.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 63
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 63
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 50.1%; rating input score 50
- Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $28.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 41.3%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.72; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 50.1% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $443K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $87K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.