Public Narrative EIN 36-3759714 Form 990 (PDF) Claim this org

Public Narrative FY2023 filing

Not yet claimed Claim this org →

Trains journalists and nonprofits to craft compelling stories for a free press and amplified community voices. For fiscal year 2023 it reported $543K in revenue, $622K in expenses, and $-7K in net assets.Pt I

Founded
1991
Type
Public charity (501(c)(3)) · Education
Location
Chicago, IL
Website
publicnarrative.org
Filings
5 on file (2020–2023)
Revenue
$543KFY2023
Expenses
$622K
Net assets
$-7K
People
4
Filings
5
Updates
0
More identity details & actions ⌄
EIN  36-3759714 Public charity (501(c)(3)) Chicago, IL Founded 1991
Form 990 (PDF)
You’re viewing the FY2023 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →
Compare with another nonprofit →
Is this your organization?
Claim this profile to manage it and share your story.
Claim
Provided by the organization

This section is blank until Public Narrative claims this page.

Know this organization? Claim it to add your story

Size
$1–10M
What they do
Trains journalists and nonprofits to craft compelling stories for a free press and amplified community voices.
Leadership
Jhmira Alexander · President · $125K
Money in and out
$543K revenue, $622K expenses
Bottom line
77% program efficiency
Where the money goes · FY2023
Total revenue
$543K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$622K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$-7K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$79K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.77 Management & general $0.13 Fundraising $0.09
Program efficiency
77%
of spending reaches programs
Operating runway
1.1mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
-15%
revenue over expenses, this year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2023 · Form 990
Revenue
$543K
FY2023-0.3%
Expenses
$622K
FY2023▲ +21%
Total assets
$110K
FY2023▼ -32%
Total liabilities
$117K
FY2023▲ +31%
Total revenue
$543K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$622K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$-7K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$79K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$110K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B77%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 33
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 43
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

1 program service account for $481K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2022.
01

We engaged our audience in hybrid spaces during FY23. We launched season 2 of the public narrative podcast, hosted "public narrative: a word with jhmira alexander'' on can TV and a conversation series among journalists and community members, 'unpacking narratives'.

$481Kprogram expense

Run this program? Claim this org to tell your story

Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CPublic Narrative
EINHdr · item D36-3759714
Principal addressHdr · item CChicago, IL
WebsiteHdr · item Jpublicnarrative.org
Year of formationHdr · item L1991
State of legal domicileHdr · item MIL
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFEducation (B99Z)
Ruling yearIRS BMFMar 1992

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a3
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b3
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13Yes
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14Yes
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2022); the FY2023 filing did not itemize Part VII
$124,800Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Jhmira Alexander$131,492$127,920$124,800$124,800$110,620
Jhmira Alexander$77,723

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Public Narrative executive salaries →

Are you one of these people? Claim this org to confirm your role

Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants$461K · 85%
Program service revenue$78K · 14%
Other revenue$5K · 1%
Contributions & grants85%$461K
Program service revenue14%$78K
Other revenue1%$5K
Investment income$11
— government grantsLn 1e$5K
Total revenueLn 12$543K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.77 Management & general $0.13 Fundraising $0.09
Program services77%$481K
Management & general13%$84K
Fundraising9%$57K
Total functional expensesLn 25$622K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$55K
Total assetsLn 16$110K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$117K
Total net assetsLn 32$-7K
Months of cash on handcomputed1.1

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2023 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $55K · Operating expenses/yr $622K
1.1 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $481K · Total expenses $622K
77%
Management & General
Management & general $84K · Total expenses $622K
13%
Fundraising
Fundraising $57K · Total expenses $622K
9%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $60K · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $349K
$0.17 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $461K · Total revenue $543K
85%
Government reliance
Government grants $5K · Total revenue $543K
0.9%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $78K · Total revenue $543K
14%
Investment reliance
Investment income $11 · Total revenue $543K
<0.01%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $78K · Total expenses $622K
13%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $543K · Prior year $545K
-0.3%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $-7K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $543K · Expenses $622K
-15%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $110K
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $-7K · Total assets $110K
-7%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $110K
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Jhmira Alexander · Reported title PRESIDENT · Highest reported compensation $125K · Total expenses $622K
20%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $387K · Total expenses $622K
62%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 77%
Overhead ratio 13%
Fundraising cost ratio 12%
Revenue growth -0.3%
Accounting fee ratio 7%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2024
See all 6 funders →
Grants paid · 1 grant · $53K · 2023–2023
Unitemized GrantFY2023$53,250

Similar Organizations

Closest in mission — by what they do
See all organizations like Public Narrative →

Compare

Search another nonprofit to view revenue, expenses, assets, key metrics, and leaders side by side

Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2024$453K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$543K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$545K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$288K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$475K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

Want to add your own materials alongside these filings? Claim this org

Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2023IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
Names, privacy, and removal requests More

The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.

Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.

We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.

Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.

If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.

Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.

If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.

If you ARE the filing organization, claim this org and add context

Made it to the end? Claim this organization

All figures are derived from public IRS Form 990 filings and are presented without evaluation of any organization. philanthropy.org does not rate, score, or rank organizations, including the peer-cohort and compensation comparisons above.