The Ipswich Local News Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 843780597
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Ipswich, MA, USA
- Phone
- 9785006077
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Printing, Publishing
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $525,586
- Expenses
- $562,164
- Assets
- $195,576
- Liabilities
- $22,242
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- WILLIAM CRAFT (PRESIDENT)
- ERIC GEDSTAD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & BOARD MEMBER)
Highest reported compensation
- JOHN MULDOON (TREASURER): $65,388 total reported compensation
- ERIC GEDSTAD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & BOARD MEMBER): $24,615 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization's mission is to provide accurate, full, and fair coverage of the news in ipswich and rowley, Massachusetts, as well as news of interest from surrounding communities.
What it reported doing in 2025
Provide a print and online publication of a local newspaper to the towns of ipswich and rowley, as well as report on news of interest from surrounding communities. The paper is mailed free to residents, reaching 9,400 households in a community of 20,000 people. In addition to the weekly edition, an online version of the paper includes 180,000 page views per month, up 5,000 views compared to last year.the paper has increased its level of reader engagement based on letters to the editor, emails to newspaper staff, and discussion at numerous community events. It has become the go-to source for local ipswich news. The paper has seen strong support from the community in the semi-annual fundraising drive, and the many handwritten notes of thanks on the importance of local news and the service we provide.the organization also provides a supplement for the neighboring towns of topsfield and boxford, which is distributed free every week around those communities. Readership in those two communities is in the low thousands.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 64% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 67
- Sustainability: 19
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 70.3%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 65.7%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.06 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 70.3% of revenue deployed · 65.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $369K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 12/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.