The Center for Public Integrity
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 541512177
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2024661300
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Government and Public Administration
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $891,735
- Expenses
- $3,143,317
- Assets
- $1,324,588
- Liabilities
- $24,433
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PAUL CHEUNG (CEO PART YEAR)
Highest reported compensation
- MATTHEW DERIENZO (EDITOR IN CHIEF PART YEAR): $152,863 total reported compensation
- YVETTE CABRERA (SENIOR REPORTER PART YEAR): $152,837 total reported compensation
- JAMIE HOPKINS (EDITOR PART YEAR): $141,301 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 public integrity inspires change using investigative reporting that reveals the causes and effects of inequality. Discriminatory systems in employment, housing, health care, education and access to democracy affect people based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, immigration status and income. Our data-driven and narrative journalism holds powerful interests accountable, investigates solutions and illustrates the historical context of inequality in america.
What it reported doing in 2024
Program service accomplishments: the center for public integrity published dozens of investigations in partnership with newsrooms across the country, as well as several short stories and graphics. The major areas of investigations were as follows:-the environment-money and democracy-poverty, opportunity and inequality
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 15
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 69.4%; rating input score 69
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- 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: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: -252.5%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 23.3%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -7.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -6.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 69.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $153K · 17 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $239K reported
- Consistency: 28 of 28 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: 6 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.