COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: FOUR NONCOM STATION ORGANIZATIONS

This week we reported on NFCB’s new CEO, Sally Kane. To put things into perspective we did a comparative analysis of NFCB and three other nonprofit organizations that serve public radio stations.

Information in the chart below comes from each organization’s most recent IRS 990 for a full year, the organization's website and other sources. (NFCB also filed a 990 for a partial year as part of the process to change their fiscal year. The partial year info is not included.)

Scroll down to read my brief comments and a question about a puzzling item I saw in a 990. Please let me know if any of the information is dated and/or incorrect.  You can reach me directly at publicradio@hotmail.com.

COMPARASON CHART

	CBI College Broadcasters, Inc.	NFCB National Federation of Community Broadcasters	PRNDI Pubic Radio News Directors	PRPD Public Radio Program Directors
MOST RECENT ANNUAL REVENUE	$80,000	$390,400	$75,000	$824,000
REVENUE FROM MEMBRTDHIP	$53,300	$262,100	$31,000	$280,300
REVENUE FROM ANNUAL CONFERENCE	$27,300	$113,200	$32,000	$426,500
HIGHEST PAID PERSON	Will Robedee $30,000	Sally Kane NA*	Christine Diers $20,000	Arthur Cohen $168,200 (retired)
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF MEMBERS	160	225	120	425
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP COST	$125	1.1% of Total Revenue $200 MIN - $4,000 MAX	$75- $400 Depends on number of news employees	% of Non-Federal Funding $425 MIN - $4,200 MAX
INTERNAL DECISION MAKING	By Committee	By Committee	By Committee	By Committee
GROUP DISCOUNTS FOR MEMBERS	Equipment, engineering	Insurance, automation systems	NONE	NONE
MEMBER APPROVAL PROCEDURE	By Committee & Vote of Members	By Committee & Vote of Members	By Committee & Vote of Members	By Committee & Vote of Members
MEMBER RESTRICTIONS	School licensee & Student Staff	Diversity Mandates & Governance Criteria	Anyone working in public radio journalism	Anyone working in public radio
ONLINE STORE	NO	NO	NO	NO
PLEDGE DRIVE ASSISTANCE	NO	NO	Does not apply	NO
SOUNDEXCHANGE ACCESS	YES	YES	Does not apply	NO
UNDERWRITING ASSISTANCE	NO	NO	Does not apply	NO
WEBINARS FOR MEMBERS	YES	YES	YES	YES

* Compensation information is not available for Sally Kane or her immediate predecessor Janis Lane-Ewart. Maxie Jackson, Lane-Ewart’s predecessor was paid approximately $160,000 per year.

KEN’S PERSPECTIVE

By United Way standards, these are very small organizations.  Each depends on the generous efforts of members and other volunteers.  All of the organizations benefit the public good and provide valuable service to their members.

There are some opportunities for additional revenue at the each organization. None of them have an online store and have few options for group buy discounts. 

Pledge drive support and underwriting guidance shouldn’t be left to DIY plans and Greater Public. New revenue is possible by providing fundraising assistance.

PUZZLING ITEM

I have been reviewing IRS 990 reports for over two decades.  I found an item in one of the 990s that I have never seen before and I am not sure what it means.  Can you help? 

I saw this entry on NFCB’s 990 for the 2013 fiscal year:

 

This appears to say [paraphrasing]: We aren’t responsible for anything that happened prior to Fiscal Year 2013.

But, I could be wrong. There must be a specific reason why this unusual explanation was added to the tax return.