The Charlemagne Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264057885
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Frankfort, KY, USA
Phone
9523880840
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Libraries

Reported finances

Revenue
$372,067
Expenses
$1,048,177
Assets
$76,949
Liabilities
$220,836

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Robert Roach (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robert Roach (CEO): $47,298 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 Charlemagne Institute is defending and advancing Western civilization through print, digital and in-person communications.

What it reported doing in 2024

Chronicles: a magazine of american culture has been a stronghold of intelligent, conservative discourse on western and american culture since 1977. Each year, we publish 12 issues of the magazine. All charlemagne institute members receive a subscription to chronicles. In 2022, we celebrated our 45th anniversary. Through the print magazine as well as social media outlets, our website, tv and radio interviews, and podcasts, chronicles examines and analyzes current events from the perspectives of history, theology, literature, and philosophy. Influencing the influential, over a third of its subscribers hold advanced degrees. Its readership includes novelists, filmmakers, university professors, teachers, homeschooling mothers, priests and pastors, captains of industry, government researchers, journalists, think tank leaders, lawyers, bishops, judges, bureaucrats, and politicians. In 2020, we released our first volume of remembering the right, a special compilation issue of articles dedicated to sharing the wisdom of past conservative and western intellectuals. Throughout all our publications, charlemagne institute draws a clear line between our editorial decisions and our donors and board of directors. While donors may direct funding to specific projects, such as the alcuin internship, they are not directing the writing or publishing of our content. We publish a wide range of content that is meant to foster discussion and further intellectual discovery.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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

STRONG - 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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 95
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 6
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th 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: -181.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.87; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $899K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $47K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.