Beacon Media
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
To promote public education, we will partner with existing media outlets across platforms to share the ideas and voices of those advocating for a more equitable democracy throughout North Carolina. Beacon Media aims to make these ideas and supporting information more available and accessible in communities where the media predominantly represents other viewpoints or limits information that citizens should be able to access. We will also syndicate other forms of stories and content related to our mission to inform rural and exurban area communities through local media outlets. In addition, Beacon Media will conduct an educational program for grassroots and other community leaders whose important voices are underrepresented in mainstream media and other public fora. Beacon Media will provide such persons training and workshops to help them develop better written and oral communication skills so that they become better public advocates for their ideas and communities.
- Income
- $428,012
- Spending
- $313,641
- Spent on programs
- 80%
- Reserves
- 0 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 71%
- Employees
- 3
- Volunteers
- 0
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 69 out of 100. Higher than 40% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
4 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 0.0 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 27% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 96% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1580% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 9 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 83 out of 100. Higher than 68% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 257 of 7 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $146,098 spent. Beacon Media's Radio + Digital initiative (social media and digital channels coupled with radio syndication) goes beyond the typical digital-only approach to ensure that our content and voices reach underserved audiences at the community level. This strategy across North Carolina offers a significant opportunity to reach underserved and under-communicated audiences, including rural, Latino, Black, and working-class communities, and present a vision for a more inclusive democracy. In 2025, Beacon began brainstorming for a new Radio + Digital show partnership with two young mayors from Western North Carolina, Preston Blakely and Dalton George. Both are excellent examples of the kinds of leaders and trusted messengers who Beacon Media is building around to ensure those who have the most at stake in our democracy have the platform and support to tell their stories directly and persuade new and often disengaged audiences that they, too, have a stake in our collective future. We began pre-production work and developed a partnership for a podcast called Do You Even Live Here? to deliver vital storytelling to rural audiences in Western North Carolina and grow and develop these key voices. We also continued progress on our El Faro Radio + Digital initiative, serving North Carolina's diverse, widespread Latino community in English and Spanish across the state. Beacon Media's Spanish and English-language Latino community media initiative, El Faro, has gained considerable momentum and began to develop key relationships and shift narratives beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025. The project, which is primarily social media-first across channels and is working to build into a regular podcast and grow its audience through a more robust social media presence, is designed to meet the urgent information needs of Latino communities across North Carolina.
- $42,918 spent. Beacon Media continued to work with our Beacon Voices cohort throughout 2025, talented grassroots leaders whose vision and voice will lead to a better North Carolina. Beacon produces regular weekly columns and syndicates them to more than 100 newspapers across the state, reaching marginalized audiences in rural areas, along with Black and Latino communities. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we also began a push to increase our Voices presence and narrative on social media, including in Spanish and to North Carolina's Spanish-language newspapers and outlets. Beacon Media's Executive Director met frequently with those Voices to develop pro-democracy messaging and content to diagnose a difficult moment in American democracy and provide a vision for the future. Those Voices included but were not limited to the Rev. C.J. Brinson, Gwen Frisbie-Fulton, Stevie Brooks, Kimberly Jones, Sam Grote, Melissa Castillo and others. In late 2025, Beacon Media expanded its model to include planning for a new hyperlocal site alongside partner We Are Down Home in Franklin and Granville Counties, North Carolina. Aside from its El Faro Latino community media initiative, which delivers key reporting alongside values-based commentary in English and Spanish, the hyperlocal media model called County Beacon will allow for Beacon Media to contribute reporting of key civic information where it matters most: at the community level.
- $61,712 spent. Beacon Media continued to make substantial progress toward its fundraising goals in 2025 and was able to onboard its first additional full-time employees, an El Faro Associate Producer and our Community Media Liaison to expand Beacon Media's programming and reach. Key investments from Way to Rise, Rural Democracy Initiative and the Marguerite Casey Foundation and individual donors across North Carolina allowed Beacon Media to continue and expand its mission to reach marginalized communities with the information and vision of a brighter future that NC's communities need to thrive.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since January 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.