The Minnesota Daily

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411648598
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6126274080
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,465,410
Expenses
$1,411,650
Assets
$1,123,876
Liabilities
$145,414

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHARLIE WEAVER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • IVAN JOHNSON (DIRECTOR OF SALES): $102,344 total reported compensation
  • CHARLIE WEAVER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $102,335 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM CONROY (DIRECTOR/ACCOUNTING CONSULTANT): $21,983 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

1. Provide independent student journalism and comprehensive coverage of news, media and events that serve the public interest and inform the university of Minnesota community.2. Offer a forum for the free exchange of ideas and civil debate for the members of the university community.3. Train university students to professional standards, teach best practices and operate an ethical organization in all areas of journalism and the media industry.4. Operate a fiscally responsible organization that ensures its viability as an independent student media company that continually serves the university community.5. Support equity, inclusivity and representation in the workplace, appropriately respond to the diverse and changing needs of the campus community and continually build relationships with community members and organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Minnesota daily is the student-run news organization at the university of Minnesota. It publishes online at mndaily.com. It also publishes special sections several times during the school year. With online traffic averaging over 200,000 users per month, as well as a strong social media following, the daily provides news and information to 54,900 students, 23,700 faculty/staff, and thousands of alumni, prospective students, parents, sports fans and others.over 130 students are employed in the news, advertising, business, distribution, marketing and finance departments, including all major leadership positions. This provides training and experience for university of Minnesota students in all majors in all aspects of journalism and business management.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 56.5%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 2; 2nd 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.2%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.9% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54% of revenue deployed · 56.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $798K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 15 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.