The Philadelphia Citizen

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462777419
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2152598196
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$624,744
Expenses
$1,043,347
Assets
$35,760
Liabilities
$241,249

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LARRY PLATT (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • LARRY PLATT (PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT KEITH (INTERIM CHAIR)
  • MIA FIORAVANTI (DIRECTOR)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The philadelphia citizen, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization, has a dual mission: to provide deeply reported journalism that emphasizes solutions that can move our region forward, and to actively reignite citizenship in and around philadelphia.

What it reported doing in 2024

The philadelphia citizen's program service accomplishments for its three largest program services include signature thought leader convenings, an ongoing news website, and civic engagement opportunities. 1. Thought leader convenings included the ideas we should steal festival, real estate development for... Good event series, and author events. These events included panel speakers, inviting the philadelphia public to listen and engage with civic ideas and solutions. Revenue was generated through sponsorship and ticket sales. Fundraising was solicited through calls for donation at events. 2. The citizen's editorial output includes website articles five to ten times per week covering philadelphia civic, social, political, and cultural news as well as a weekly newsletter. Some editorial series generate revenue through sponsorship. 3. Civic engagement opportunities included the ultimate job interview series which allowed philadelphians to create a mayoral job description together, then use that description to interview mayoral candidates. This program also included voter information resources such as guides and candidate profiles to inform the public on their choices for the philadelphia 2023 mayoral election. This effort was supported by grant funding and call for individual donations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% 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: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 63.1%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -67%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 6.75; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -10.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 63.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $658K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.