Record Community News Group

Record Community News Group (RCNG) is a news organization founded in 2020 that covers local news in five northern suburbs of Chicago. Started with a Kickstarter campaign and fundraising from local businesses, RCNG began online publication of The Record North Shore in October 2020. 1

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Website: www.therecordcng.org
Founded:

2020

President:

Jennifer Gordon

 

Editor in Chief:

Joe Coughlin

Location: Lombard, IL View on map
Tax ID: 85-1425791
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $109,431 Revenue: $298,634 Expenses: $235,457

Contents

    RNCG has close relations with the left-leaning Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). 2 RNCG used INN to collect and manage donations and RNCG states it follows the standards of editorial independence adopted by INN. 3 Additionally, INN authors publications on how to launch a nonprofit news organization from scratch. 4

    Finances

    Since its inception in June 2020, Record Community News Group paid to partner with the Institute For Nonprofit News to collect and manage donations. 2 In August 2021, the IRS determined that RCNG qualifoes as a public charity nonprofit. 5 For the year ending 2020, RCNG reported $76,078 in revenue and $63,075 in expenses. 6 Major donors to RCNG in 2020 included the George Family Charitable Trust and the Potter Family Foundation. 7

    Leadership

    Jennifer Gordon is the president of the board of directors for the Record Community News Group. 8 Gordon is an attorney in Chicago specializing in corporate and intellectual property law. 9 She also does pro bono work on environmental issues with the Chesapeake Legal Alliance. 10

    Joe Coughlin is co-founder and editor in chief of The Record North Shore. 10 Previously, Coughlin worked almost ten years for 22nd Century Media, serving as publisher and editor of community newspapers. 11

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $109,431 $298,634 $235,457 View
    2023 $46,254 $176,154 $142,244 View
    2022 $12,344 $125,000 $116,978 View
    2021 $4,472 $131,123 $139,804 View
    2020 $14,161 $76,078 $63,075 View

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 3

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Joseph CoughlinTreasurer$86,961

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $130,594
    • Number of Grants: 8
    • Number of Funders: 5

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $43,7822021 Institute for Nonprofit NewsORGANIZATION IS A FISCAL SPONSOR
    $20,0002024 Institute for Nonprofit NewsINN SUPPORT – LABS
    $20,0002023 Local Independent Online News Publishers IncSustainability Audit
    $19,8252020 Institute for Nonprofit NewsORGANIZATION IS A FISCAL SPONSOR
    $16,9872022 The Miami FoundationPROGRAM SUPPORT
    $5,5002022 Local Independent Online News Publishers IncGNI STARTUPS LAB, TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP
    $2,5002022 Stephen N and Ann S Potter Family FoundationGENERAL
    $2,0002024 The Coleman Foundation, Inc.Grants made at the discretion of Board Members to qualified publicly-supported charities

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    Contact Us

    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    References

    1. Kickstarter The Record Community News Group website. “Update 10.” www.kickstarter.com. October 12, 2020. Accessed October 3, 2021. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/therecordnews/the-return-of-local-news-to-the-north-shore/posts.
    2. “The Record Achieves Official Nonprofit Status From IRS.” September 1, 2021. Accessed October 3, 2021. https://www.therecordnorthshore.org/2021/09/01/the-record-achieves-official-nonprofit-status-from-irs/.
    3. The Record Community News Group website. www.therecordcng.org. Accessed October 3, 2021. https://therecordcng.org/whatwedo/. “The Record Achieves Official Nonprofit Status From IRS.” September 1, 2021. Accessed October 3, 2021. https://www.therecordnorthshore.org/2021/09/01/the-record-achieves-official-nonprofit-status-from-irs/.
    4. Institute for Nonprofit News website. “Startup Guide.” www.inn.org. Accessed October 3, 2021. https://inn.org/research/guides/startup-guide-unlocked/.
    5. IRS letter to The Record Community News Group. August 13, 2021. Accessed October 3, 2021. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/dl/FinalLetter_85-1425791_THERECORDCOMMUNITYNEWSGROUP_03032021_00.tif.
    6. [1] Illinois Form AG990-IL: The Record Community News Group, 2020.
    7. The Record North Shore website. “Our Supporters.” www.therecordnorthshore.org. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://www.therecordnorthshore.org/our-supporters/.
    8. [1] The Record North Shore website. “Our Team.” www.therecordnorthshore.org. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://www.therecordnorthshore.org/our-team/.
    9. Jennifer Gordon LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-gordon-7559a17/.
    10. The Record North Shore website. “Our Team.” www.therecordnorthshore.org. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://www.therecordnorthshore.org/our-team/.
    11. Joe Coughlin LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeacoughlin/.