The Center for Michigan

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
320167398
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Phone
7342155169
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Finance, Taxation, Monetary Policy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,280,443
Expenses
$5,658,764
Assets
$12,994,181
Liabilities
$539,035

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHERINE S LOCKER (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHERINE S LOCKER (CEO): $271,828 total reported compensation
  • JOEL T KURTH (EXECUTIVE ED): $202,675 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM EMKOW (GROWTH STRAT): $201,135 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

For all state residents, diverse civic stakeholders and philanthropy, the center for Michigan (the center) and its nonprofit newsrooms - bridge Michigan and bridgedetroit - make Michigan better through high-quality, nonpartisan journalism and engagement. The center focuses on in-depth explanatory and watchdog reporting while working collaboratively with various media to deepen and widen public consumption of in-depth reporting. This work is made possible by charitable donations ranging from foundation grants to reader donations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Bridge Michigan: the centers mission is to make Michigan better through high-quality, nonpartisan journalism and engagement. The center also works collaboratively with various media to provide in-depth reporting to our partners, in so doing, building journalism capacity in ways that support Michigan news media, citizens, business and philanthropy. The centers major focus is bridge Michigan, a free, online, nonpartisan news magazine has grown to more than 104,000 subscribers. Bridge Michigan has grown into one of the nations leading examples of nonprofit journalism as mainstream newspapers have dramatically declined, earning over three million readers in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% 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.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.2%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 67.3%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.2%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.3; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.2% of revenue deployed · 67.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $272K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $277K reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.