Trace Media Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474175513
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
2125327171
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,308,861
Expenses
$5,174,682
Assets
$4,537,799
Liabilities
$103,737

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN FEINBLATT (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • TALIESIN WOODWARD (EDITOR IN CHIEF): $280,095 total reported compensation
  • JAMES BURNETT (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $258,548 total reported compensation
  • CRAIG HUNTER (EXECUTIVE EDITOR): $189,909 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The trace is an independent, nonpartisan, reader-supported nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to reporting on gun violence in the united states. Employing the full toolsets of modern investigative reporting and audience engagement, we strive to expand public knowledge and accountability regarding an issue of under-appreciated national significance.

What it reported doing in 2024

Trace media inc. ("the trace") is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that provides the public with original reporting and analysis of gun violence in the united states. In 2024, the trace's program accomplishments included publishing more than 400 investigations, news articles, and newsletter briefings, informing an audience of nearly 10 million people via thetrace.org, third-party platforms, and republication of our journalism by other news outlets. While engaging the perspectives of shooting victims, survivors, gun owners, scholars, and policymakers, the trace reported on overlooked dimensions of gun violence, including the rise of gun homicides and assaults in small cities and rural communities; our coverage also improved understanding of life-saving interventions that have bipartisan support. Other focuses of our coverage in 2024 were the mounting legal challenges to firearm laws and sources of crime weapons. Through the trace's local reporting initiative, we held officials in chicago and philadelphia accountable for their responses to gun violence. To help journalists in other communities produce more in-depth coverage of gun violence as a public safety, the trace launched a unique gun violence data hub. Overall, our work aimed to foster a more informed public discourse on the complex issue of gun violence.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.4% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $280K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $465K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.