Rhode Island · Nonprofit
OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP
OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP (Rhode Island) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,867,949 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($7,103,272). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 38
- Grants received
- $8.9M
- Net assets
- $116M
What Ocean State Media Group does
Mission
Ocean state media is rhode island's trusted public media organization, amplifying all voices through thought-provoking storytelling, original journalism, lifelong learning, and engaging live events. We foster hope, connection, and education that strengthens and inspires our shared community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
We are ocean state media. And we are listening.in a time of noise, we are choosing to listen. In an era of division, we are building connection. In a rapidly shifting media landscape, we are doubling down on place -on the people, stories, questions and cultures that define rhode island.we are reimagining what public media can be with, for and about you.- deeply local: rooted in our neighborhoods and communities.- widely available: wherever you are, we're there with you.- relevant: keeping up with the times and meeting them with purpose.- distinctive: content that feels like rhode island and couldn't come from anywhere else.- community-centered: driven by listening, learning, and connection.ocean state media isn't just a service - it's a relationship. And now more than ever, we are creating a local media experience that informs, connects and represents us all.
$10,099,855 spentof which $63,858 as grants$1,536,394 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $10,099,855.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $3.7M to $98M (+2540%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 2% · 2022 2% · 2023 7% · 2024 2% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
43% of OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $11k → $982k.
9 of 38 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 38 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP leans on a few funders — its largest provides 80% of grant income and the top three 92%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 72% · 2018 84% · 2019 87% · 2020 83% · 2021 93% · 2022 85% · 2023 79% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
50% of OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside Rhode Island, across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP has grown faster than three-quarters of the 550 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 550 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Rhode Island
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
49%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP?
- OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP (Rhode Island) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,867,949 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($7,103,272). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP have?
- IRS filings report 38 organizations giving $8,867,949 in grants to OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP?
- CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING is the largest funder on record, with $7,103,272 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OCEAN STATE MEDIA GROUP find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Rhode Island. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 38 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing