The Center for Investigative Reporting Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942434026
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
5108093160
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Censorship, Freedom of Speech and Press

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$533,200
Expenses
$978,325
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Maria Feldman (Chief Operations Officer): $48,310 total reported compensation
  • Amanda Pike (Director of TV and Doc): $33,614 total reported compensation
  • Diana Baranetsky (General Counsel): $32,253 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Center for Investigative Reporting CIR engages and empowers the public through investigative journalism and groundbreaking storytelling that sparks action improves lives and protects our democracy.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Center for Investigative Reporting produces the public radio show and podcast REVEAL which airs on over 500 public radio stations. REVEAL is a co-production with PRX and features investigative reporting from our newsrooms as well as stories from other newsrooms and freelance reporters. We produce long-form investigative stories in the public interest. Our text stories are published on our website and with partners. We cover a range of urgent topics: immigration threats to democracy policing and the legal system gender violence and the rights of women climate and the environment and the winner-take-all economy. We equip local news outlets with the resources to carry out deep investigative work increase the distribution of our reporting and empower journalists nationwide to produce localized versions of our major investigations enabling our stores to reach diverse audiences through our REVEAL reporting networks and national coverage collaborations. We produce video documentaries and television to marry our in-depth reporting with cinematic storytelling for broad distributions. Our video products have aired on Netflix Oxygen PBS Newshour Al Jazeera and other video platforms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 3
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -83.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.8%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $689K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $48K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.