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by Dave Soulia, for FYIVT.com
When Vermonters are asked to donate to VTDigger, they’re told they’re supporting independent journalism. But recent IRS filings by its parent, the Vermont Journalism Trust (VJT), reveal a separation agreement with founder Anne Galloway that raises questions about how donor money is used.
According to Schedule L of the 2023 Form 990, Galloway entered into a consulting agreement “for a period of 3 years and five months,” with monthly payments of $9,166.66 and a final partial payment of $2,680.62. The same filing also states that the final payment will be made “on the 44th month,” which would extend the arrangement to three years and eight months. Taken together, the language and the dollar amounts do not perfectly reconcile, leaving a discrepancy in the official disclosure. The total payout is listed as $396,857.
The filing spells out her duties:
“Anne Galloway’s duties include attending and participating in fundraising events for Vermont Journalism Trust on mutually agreed upon dates and being available to provide advice, recommendations, or other analysis to the board and/or executive director.”
In other words, Vermont Journalism Trust is paying its former leader roughly $110,000 annually for occasional fundraising appearances and being “available” to give advice — nearly identical to the pay reported for the organization’s current CEO.
What the IRS Requires
The IRS allows nonprofits to compensate current or former executives, including through severance or consulting agreements. The test is whether pay is “reasonable compensation,” defined as what similar organizations would pay for comparable work. If compensation is excessive without services to match, the IRS classifies it as an “excess benefit transaction,” something tax-exempt organizations are prohibited from doing.
Nothing in the filing suggests illegality. The arrangement was board-approved and disclosed as a conflict of interest, which at least signals recognition that it could be questioned. Still, the optics are stark for a small Vermont newsroom. For context, ProPublica, a national nonprofit newsroom with a budget nearly ten times larger, reported a similar payout for a departing executive.
A Newsroom in the Red
The timing makes the arrangement harder to overlook. Vermont Journalism Trust has been running substantial deficits.
- In 2022, the Trust reported expenses of $3.78 million against revenue of $2.77 million, a deficit of just over $1 million.
- In 2023, expenses were $3.47 million against revenue of $2.75 million, another loss of about $726,000.
- Combined, that’s nearly $1.7 million in losses over two years — a figure confirmed in reporting by Seven Days in 2024, which also noted staff cuts and belt-tightening as grants ran out.
Vermont Journalism Trust still has reserves — about $1.9 million in net assets as of 2023 — but those are being eroded. That makes six-figure payouts for light consulting duties stand out even more.
The Larger Question
For some, the Galloway agreement may be standard nonprofit practice: a founder transitioning out, staying involved with fundraising, and being compensated along the way. But for donors who give $10 or $100 thinking they’re funding watchdog reporting, the details on Schedule L may come as a surprise.
At a minimum, it raises questions of stewardship:
- Should a nonprofit with repeated operating losses be committing nearly $400,000 to a former executive?
- Is it truly “reasonable” compensation for the duties listed?
- Were readers and small donors ever informed that contributions were partly underwriting this arrangement?
A Matter of Trust
The irony is hard to miss. Vermont Journalism Trust exists to hold government and institutions accountable, demanding transparency and disclosure from others. Yet it took an IRS filing — not a press release — for Vermonters to learn about a nearly $400,000 payout to Digger’s founder while the newsroom was shedding staff and running deficits.
This isn’t about Anne Galloway’s legacy or whether she deserved recognition for building VTDigger into a major news outlet. It’s about whether the nonprofit’s governance and financial transparency match the standards it expects from others.
The IRS gives broad leeway to nonprofit boards, but Vermonters deserve to know how their donations are used. If watchdog journalism is to keep its moral authority, it has to apply scrutiny inward as well as outward.
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Categories: Commentary, Media
Too funny, this is a most excellent article, and I was coming on VDC to post what non-sense Vermont Digger was posting today. Vermont Digger is a political tool, they are a propaganda machine. They censored the public, openly under Anne Galloway.
They oppressed political parties, they would NOT allow anyone to mention the Green Mountain Party, when we were running for office. They and I have the emails, I see if I can fetch them in the way back machine, told me point blank if we mention the Word Green Mountain Party your posts will be taken down.
It is open and common knowledge that the are political machine hiding behind a non-profit status.
Of course, does the VTGOP even talk about censorship, moderation, cancel culture in the most Astro Turf state of the union? No, they won’t even write a strongly worded letter.
VTDigger’s contributors are happy to pay for the information that they want to read, like many folks in today’s ideology-customized, curated media market. They have been duped, but probably aren’t too concerned. They will still get to read what they want to read.
At least the folks that get the bulk of their daily “news” from Jimmy Kimmel, after having consumed 5 beers, dont get solicited for donations. Maybe they will now, after he gets portrayed by like-minded liberals as a victim of the “fascist takeover”.
On the Front page of Vermont Digger today.
They run a big cover story, covering up the biggest billion-dollar scandal in Vermont history over the past four years, Vermont “affordable” housing…..$500k studio apartments, that are completely subsidized by your tax dollars.
Then the 3 stooges talk about Gaza Genocide.
Then they talk about balcony solar panels.
Then they talk about Martha Stewart providing a forever home for two horses.
These are clearly the four topics Vermonters are facing every day. Couldn’t we just say, Vermont Digger, Digging a hole for the Vermont citizen to become a United Nations Colony, for the You will own nothing and be happy crowd. And look at me I’m so self-righteous I saved a horse! I hope you enjoy living in your Subaru!
Here is one email…
Neil,
In an effort to let more readers’ voices be heard in the comments section, we are setting a limit for some commenters who we feel are dominating conversations. The VTDigger comment section was never intended as a chat room. We provide the platform to foster comment and discussion, but the back and forth some commenters engage in can hijack the conversation and divert it far from the original topic. While we understand you are passionate about your particular issue, frequent repetition of the same points becomes tedious very quickly for other readers.
Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, May 2, you will be limited to three comments a day. All moderators are aware of the limit and will delete comments that exceed it.
Cate Chant
Copy Editor
VTDigger.org
Neil,
You’ve already exceeded your comment limit for the day. Please keep within the three-comment limit.
Thank you,
Cate Chant
Copy Editor
VTDigger.org
I’m digging for the comment….
Thanks, Neil. I’ll pass this along to the editors.
On Sat, Sep 22, 2018 at 1:41 PM Neil Johnson (deleted email) wrote:
Hi Anne,
We so much appreciate your out reach to candidates. We would love to do an interview about our party and goals. Ethan Sonneborn got some good press across the state, we’re hoping that our story meets the interest of the press at similar levels.
We can meet at your convenience and location and would love to have the meeting in it’s entirety recorded. Last interview only two questions were asked to which we had no ability to respond.
You’re coverage of EB-5, Coventry and Victory are priceless. Appreciate all the you’ve done.
Neil Johnson
Green Mountain Party Candidate Washington -7 House of Representatives
State Chair, Green Mountain Party
Hi Neil,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on VTDigger. We’ve noticed that your recent comments all advocate for readers to join your political party. Please refrain from these calls-to-action in your posts.
We welcome your comments on the topic of the article, but we don’t allow these sorts of promotional messages in our comments section. Thanks for your cooperation.
Best,
md
—
Mike Dougherty
Community Editor
VTDigger
It’s in here somewhere….
Back from 2019, trying to get commentary published….
Hi Cate,
Are you guys going to expose what’s going on in the name of affordable housing? Are you going to print my letter for commentary?
Thanks. Neil
Vermonters had better start talking about the murder of Charlie Kirk and smarten up as this is a big deal and you need to know who is destroying your state and country. Comment from Richard Day.
There’s a reason why Vermont has the highest percentage of non-profits per capita in the US. They’re allowed to funnel large amounts of money under some pretty sketchy circumstances to wherever and whomever they want. I suspect it’s a case where nobody is paying attention to what’s going on. I think there needs to more oversight of all non-profits by some entity. Let’s not forget that the Vermont Supreme Court refused the State Auditor request for the payroll records of the outfit OneCare Vermont yes, a non-profit that is set to end operations in 2025. This non-profit raised it’s operating budget $3 million dollars in one year to spend taxpayers’ dollars supposedly reducing Heathcare costs for the state. Vermont contracts with numerous non-profits to provide various services but we have no right to know how they are spending the money they bill us for.