The Futuro Media Group

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272077349
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
8883145559
Rating
57
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Radio

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,823,180
Expenses
$5,063,626
Assets
$3,710,731
Liabilities
$745,172

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARIA HINOJOSA (PRESIDENT)
  • MARLON BISHOP (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO)
  • PENILEY RAMIREZ (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARIA HINOJOSA (PRESIDENT): $190,000 total reported compensation
  • PENILEY RAMIREZ (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO): $174,846 total reported compensation
  • MARLON BISHOP (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO): $162,979 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Futuro media creates multimedia content for and about the new american mainstream in the service of empowering people to navigate the complexities of an increasingly diverse and connected world.

What it reported doing in 2025

Studios: futuro studios is a pulitzer prize-winning podcast and original programming studio uplifting original voices to tell riveting stories that make meaning of the world. The studio focused on reported narratives, original journalism, and innovative audio production, with particular attention to stories and voices from diverse communities.latino USA: anchored by pulitzer prize-winning journalist maria hinojosa since 1993, latino USA is a weekly, nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast distributed by prx.futuro unidad hinojosa: futuro investigates pursues in-depth reporting that holds the powerful accountable, and confronts challenges latino communities face across the country.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% 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

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 31
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.6%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.6% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $105K reported
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.