Spectator Publishing Company Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131975005
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2128706970
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Reported finances

Revenue
$296,078
Expenses
$235,435
Assets
$892,271
Liabilities
$33,391

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Shea Vance (Editor in Chief): $4,250 total reported compensation
  • Heather Chen (Managing Editor): $1,970 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 provide students with an opportunity to learn all facets of the newspaper & media production

What it reported doing in 2024

Spectator Publishing Co. Inc. is a student-run organization, with an independent board of directors, responsible for the publication of Columbia University's newspaper, The Columbia Spectator. The objective of the organization is to provide students with an opportunity to learn all facets of the newspaper and media production business. The organization published 24 issues during 2024. In 2024, 3,000 copies of the 24 issues are circulated. Newspapers are distributed without charge to students, faculty and employees. In return for the free circulation, the university provides office and production space to the organization.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.2%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20.5%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.79; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.2% of revenue deployed · 92.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 15 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $218K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $4K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.