Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Sep 2014.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
69 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
13 people listed on the 990; $310K paid to officers and key staff.
Paula Froehle’s $139K as CEO is at the 89th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1043 $100K–1M public & societal benefit nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 4 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paula Froehle | $138,914 | $177,650 | $206,194 | $222,910 | $133,298 |
| Samantha C Verhey | — | $109,325 | — | — | — |
| Samantha Verhey | — | — | $103,499 | $96,968 | — |
| Steven Cohen | $2,500 | $30,000 | — | — | — |
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.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Empowers society through media and film, uniting informed citizens.
Questions for Chicago Media Project
Your first name shows with your question. Chicago Media Project answers here, for everyone.
Know this org? Add your story
We provide exclusive high-quality content from the impact media landscape and in-depth, behind-the-scenes access to films, filmmakers and programmers to our members in a social setting.
Community Events
CMP curates the best nonfiction media and brings it to chicago and beyond - through our partners in advocacy screenings, our doc 10 film festival and our doc 5 film festival.
Film Funding
CMP'S impact grant fund provides direct support to filmmakers in three major areas: early stage funding, filmmaker sustainability, and innovation in outreach.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2022 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY22 | End FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $128K | $6K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $38K | $39K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $0 | $5K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $1.2M | $318K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.3M | $1.0M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | −$94K | −$689K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $211K | $211K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $23K | $23K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $328K | $295K | $33K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $104K | $10K | $93K | |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $2K | $732 | $2K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $18K | $2K | $16K | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $32K | $21K | $10K | |
| Management feesLn 11a | $72K | $37K | $35K | |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $1K | $1K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $41K | $41K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $880 | $880 | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $67K | $53K | $14K | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $45K | $31K | $14K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $13K | $13K | ||
| Information technologyLn 14 | $17K | $17K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $42K | $28K | $13K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $107K | $56K | $51K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $16K | $16K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $1K | $1K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $5K | $5K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $66K | $66K | ||
| All other expensesLn 24e | $10K | $10K | $542 | |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.2M | $842K | $378K | $880 |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest | $865K | $771K | $94K | −$349K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $1.6M | $1.3M | $251K | −$437K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 Viewing | $704K | $1.2M | −$517K | −$689K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $927K | $834K | $94K | −$94K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $714K | $808K | −$94K | −$209K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2022 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $703,723 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 11 of 12 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $703,723 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,221,034 across 22 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $318,376 assets, 12 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets −$688,790 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2022 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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