Scalawag

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472014247
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Durham, NC, USA
Phone
9842926888
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,807,736
Expenses
$1,343,372
Assets
$583,955
Liabilities
$125,871

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DaShaun Harrison (Co-Executive Director)
  • Sherronda Brown (Executive Director)
  • Zaire Love (Co-Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • DaShaun Harrison (Co-Executive Director): $115,919 total reported compensation
  • Sherronda Brown (Executive Director): $115,857 total reported compensation
  • Kathryn Hanzalik (Newsletter Editor & Audience): $102,166 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Through journalism and storytelling, Scalawag works in solidarity with oppressed communities in the South to disrupt and shift the narratives that keep power and wealth in the hands of the few. Collectively, we pursue a more liberated South.

What it reported doing in 2024

Scalawag is committed to community-supported, nonprofit journalism. As a 501(c)3, we depend on individual donors and foundations to support our work.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. 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: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 50
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.6%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 66.7%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st 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: 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.7%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 27.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 28.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.6% of revenue deployed · 66.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $896K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.