Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$6,882,509

Total expenses

$6,433,871

Contributions and grants received

$1,533,399

Grants paid

$3,780,767

Program service revenue

$5,304,119

Investment income

$44,991

Other revenue

$0

Total assets, end of year

$4,683,866

Total liabilities, end of year

$1,640,259

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$3,043,607

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$5,667,528

Management and general expenses

$540,864

Fundraising expenses

$225,479

Program service expenses (Part III)

$5,667,528

Program services were 88.1% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2023

• Sustainability Audits:A comprehensive process for LION members to identify and respond constructively to roadblocks to sustainability within their organizations, including $20K in direct funding for participants who complete deliverables.We completed 75 Audits and 96 Progress Reports, and distributed $20,000 to each participant to act on their recommendations. 93% of our Audit participants feel more confident in their organizations ability to reach sustainability.

  Expenses $3,562,760 · Grants $3,150,000 · Revenue $3,645,400

• Membership Education:We concluded the two-year Revenue Growth Fellowship program with valuable data insights, added new resources and courses to News Entrepreneur Academy (members have completed 450 courses), and conducted an 8-week Sustainability Lab: Unblocking Revenue Barriers featuring asynchronous training, one-on-one coaching, peer learning, and up to $9,000 in funding to help participants overcome a revenue challenge.

  Expenses $1,062,949 · Grants $572,247 · Revenue $617,250

• Membership Direct Services & LION Awards:The operations of having a membership, including processing applications/renewals, securing member benefits (e.g. discounts), organizing two regional in-person events, and launching a Community Ambassadors program.We grew our membership by 12% to over 500 members. 29% of our memberships leadership identifies as BIPOC and 13% as LGBTQIA+. We hosted two in-person, regional News Sustainability Meetups, one in the Deep South and another in the Southeast. More than 250 news leaders attended these meetups to connect and learn from each other. We implemented ideas from our BIPOC Listening project, piloting BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ affinity groups at the Southeast event. Our News Entrepreneur Community Slack group grew by 50% to over 1,500 users. We launched our inaugural Community Ambassadors program, facilitating learning among local peers and helping LION identify newly launched news organizations.

  Expenses $640,255 · Grants $58,520 · Revenue $179,739

• Data & Evaluation:We published 3 data insights posts, and increased the number of organizations profiled in the Project Oasis database by 31%.

  Expenses $401,564 · Revenue $212,830

As filed on the 2023 return.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

• Tiny News Collective

  $49,000

  OKC Free Press Sustainability Audit

• Institute for Nonprofit News

  $40,000

  Cycle 1 Booster - Shasta Scout

• Advocate Foundation Inc

  $36,300

  LION Awards

• Fresnoland Media

  $35,000

  Audit funding 2022 Cycle 4

• The 016 LLC

  $35,000

  Audit funding 2022 Cycle 4

• Scribe Video Center

  $31,020

  Award

• Green Philly Company

  $30,834

  Revenue Growth Fellowship

• The Political Report Inc

  $30,300

  LION Awards

• Outlier Media

  $29,332

  LION Awards

• Central Florida Community News Inc

  $29,000

  Sustainability Lab

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

25 July 2024

IRS schema version

2023v5.1

Source object

202432079349301408

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