TucsonSentinel.com

Legal name: Tucson Investigative Reporting Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471106725
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$496,533
Expenses
$349,801
Assets
$192,823
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Dylan Smith (Editor Co-Publisher): $52,457 total reported compensation
  • Maria CoxonSmith (Co-Publisher): $35,974 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide independent, in-depth news and investigative reporting for Tucson and Arizona.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Tucson Investigative Reporting Center is an independent newsroom that publishes local journalism via the TucsonSentinel.com local independent news website via email Watchdog Update newsletters and convenes public events to learn from & inform Southern Arizonans about the community challenges and unique culture of our Borderlands. In 2024 the Sentinel had more than 2.6 million active users and more than 4.2 million pages read with more than 20,000 newsletter subscribers and more than 500 individual supporting members. The Sentinel provides award-winning accountability journalism and community reporting with stories published in both English and Spanish and is a recognized national leader in rebuilding the local news business. We work with advanced university interns and fellows to educate the next generation of journalists. We also recognize the organizations roots in animal welfare work via modest support of dog rescue groups and fostered shelter animals including providing food shelter veterinary care and other necessary services for unwanted animals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 55
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29.6%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 40.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 50.7% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 70.4% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $350K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $52K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.