Vermont Public Radio

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030259051
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Colchester, VT, USA
Phone
8026559451
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,856,748
Expenses
$8,697,627
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Scott Finn (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Scott Finn (President & CEO): $215,445 total reported compensation
  • Brendan Kinney (Senior VP - Mar): $157,083 total reported compensation
  • John Van Hoesen (Senior VP & CCO): $146,784 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Listener-supported Vermont Public Radio has been serving the people of Vermont and the surrounding region since 1977. As Vermonts only statewide public radio network, VPR provides an essential and trusted independent voice for news, information, music and cultural exploration for the people of our region. Our purpose is to inspire an informed public and an engaged community.

What it reported doing in 2020

Vermont Public Radio serves Vermont and beyond with two broadcast networks: VPR for news and information and VPR Classical for classical music. Vermont Public Radio is an independent non-commercial content producer and provider, both on-air and on-line. VPRs radio signals extend from Montreal, Quebec south to Massachusetts, and from western New Hampshire to eastern New York. VPR and VPR Classical combined have a weekly audience of more than 200,000 listeners and www.vpr.org served approximately 347,000 visitors in January 2021. VPR programs include some of the most listened to public radio programming in the country NPRs Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as VPRs locally produced news hour Vermont Edition, podcasts, and regional news updates aired and posted throughout the day.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.2%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 65.7%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.8%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.2% of revenue deployed · 65.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $215K · 25 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $720K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2009 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.