Florida · Nonprofit
THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC
THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC (Florida) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $32,887,396 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($8,168,645). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 69
- Grants received
- $33M
- Net assets
- $51M
What The Poynter Institute for Media Studies Inc does
Mission
The poynter institue is a school dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. It promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of craft and in the practical leadership of successful businesses. It stands for a journalism that informs citizens and enlightens public discourse. It carries forward nelson poynter's belief in the value of independent journalism.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Poynter provides in-depth, non-partisan fact-checking both with guidelines and governance for fact-checkers worldwide. The international fact-checking network (ifcn) is a unit of the poynter institute dedicated to bringing together fact-checkers wordlwide. The ifcn was launched in september 2015 to support fact-checking initiatives by promoting best practices and exchanges in this field. In addition to supporting a code of principles with over 170 organizations participating in the verification process for fact-checkers worldwide, the ifcn also provides global training and summits to improve the craft. For its collaborative efforts, the ifcn was nominated in 2021 for the nobel peace price. Poynter also manages one of the foremost national fact-checking brands, politifact. Politifact provides daily fact-checking and resources to both journalists and the public. In addition, politifact trains and educates other fact-checkers as well as holds citizen training events.
$7,185,947 spentof which $4,026,156 as grants$9,428,598 earned by the program44% of program spendingOther program expenses
$4,330,219 spent26% of program spendingThe poynter institute in st.petersburg,fl, is a school dedicated to the belief that the practice of excellent journalism is essential to a successful democracy. Poynter employs a full-time faculty and staff, as well as numberous adjunct teachers to reach its principal audiences of professional and nonprofessional jouralists, media leaders and content creators. In addition, the institute offers reporting and programs for citizens interested in learning more about journalism and its impact on society.
$4,052,932 spentof which $100,750 as grants$5,215,107 earned by the program25% of program spendingMediawise teaches digital media and ai literacy to empower anyone to find facts and avoid misleading or false content - whether human or ai generated - so they can make healthy, informed decisions based on tier values and maintain meaningful relationships with their families and communities. Programming is designed for youth, college students and older adults. In 2024, mediawise resources generated more than 15 million views, and since its inception in 2018, the intiative has reached over 143 million people gloabally.
$930,260 spent$1,572,437 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,499,358.
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 2018 to 2019, from $41M to $47M (+15%).
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: 2019 1% · 2020 0% · 2021 13% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
57% of THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Board chair
Paul Tash
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 26 funders, grant income rose $1.2M → $3.3M.
21 of 69 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 36% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $145k from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest The Poynter Institute for Media Studies Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC raised.
From the IRS filings of THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 69 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
THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
75% 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 THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 29% · 2019 72% · 2020 25% · 2021 48% · 2022 23% · 2023 18% — diversifying over time.
“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
33% of THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC draws 82% of its grant income from funders outside Florida, across 16 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $12M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $650k on record — $650k federal, $150 state.
- U.S. Agency for Global Media$521k
- Department of State$129k
- (EE) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES$150
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC
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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 8 states
Part of a family of 9 related entities
- Tampa Bay Times Fund Inc · exempt
- Poynter Foundation Inc · exempt
- Times Holding Co · corp_trust
- Times Publishing Co · corp_trust
- Trend Magainzes Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC: 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 THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC?
- THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC (Florida) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $32,887,396 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($8,168,645). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC have?
- IRS filings report 69 organizations giving $32,887,396 in grants to THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC?
- CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING is the largest funder on record, with $8,168,645 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE POYNTER INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA STUDIES INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 69 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing