Youth Journalism International Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261522174
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Auburn, ME, USA
Phone
8606558188
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$77,649
Expenses
$65,219
Assets
$338,928
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jackie Majerus (Executive Director)
  • Steve Collins (Board President)

People named in this filing

  • Jackie Majerus (Executive Director)
  • Steve Collins (Board President)
  • Arooj Khalid (Board Member)

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

Youth Journalism International connects student writers, artists and photographers with peers around the globe, teaches journalism, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and promotes and defends a free youth press. Since 1994, it has offered a free education to students in two-thirds of the world's nations, including many in the United States.

What it reported doing in 2024

GLOBAL CLASSROOM FOR JOURNALISM EDUCATION - YJI provides, for free, daily one-on-one and group instruction in journalism, professional ethics, media literacy and the nature of news. It holds regular meetings online, where a diverse group of students, hailing from scores of countries, discuss stories and projects while learning from instructors and each other about journalism. In the process, students also develop cross-cultural understanding. Their work is published on YJI's website, empowering young people in the process.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% 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. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 99.3%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $122.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 80%; rating input score 80; 2nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.2; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -101.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.2% of revenue deployed · 99.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $65K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 40 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.