The Miami Rail Publishing Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463188294
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2016–2016
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Miami Beach, FL, USA
Phone
3056069469
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Reported finances

Revenue
$63,632
Expenses
$68,640
Assets
$234
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • NINA JOHNSON MILEWSKI (BOARD MEMBER)
  • Phong Bui (BOARD MEMBER)
  • James L Bodnar (Chair)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Miami Rail Publishing Corporation is a charitable organization dedicated to providing cultural criticism to Miami. It promotes the cultural relevancy of activities in Miami by distributing to a national audience via direct mail and the internet. The Miami Rail seeks to elevate the local cultural discourse necessary for a vibrant arts scene. Through thoughtful criticism, The Miami Rail legitimizes Miami as a cultural hub and documents local artists who might otherwise go unnoticed. The Miami Rail will produce and distribute at no cost quarterly newspapers both in print and online providing cultural criticism relevant to Miami. In addition, the organization promotes engaged communities by hosting visiting writers, writer workshops, and networking with various cultural institutions in the community.

What it reported doing in 2016

The miami rail ("the rail" is a free, 80 page art and culture journal that creates a permanent record of world-class local culture, from the beach to the everglades, on a quarterly basis. The rail commissions up to 30 stories per issue by local and visiting writers. Writers are paid between $200 and $1500 per story. Our articles are a testament to the community's passion for the arts, and are accessed by 6,000 readers quarterly through the print edition and 2,500 readers monthly around the world through our subscription and online services. The rail is widely distributed for free, and we pride ourselves in always paying our writers. Through a partnership established in 2016, the miami herald co-publishes cultural criticism from our journal, both in print and online, reaching an additional 150,000 readers per month. The rail presents two public programs per quarter: "the visiting writer's residencies"block by block local writer talks". A team of seven miami-based editors, plus a p

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.9%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $69K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.