Contents
Entity Profile
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit 501(c)(3), church-classified (exempt from Form 990) |
| EIN | 11-2613196 |
| Domain | desalesmedia.org |
| Jurisdiction | Brooklyn/Queens, NY (Diocese of Brooklyn — 189 parishes, ~55% Spanish-speaking) |
| Hosting | Pantheon (managed WordPress), Fastly CDN |
| Google Workspace (primary), Microsoft 365 (secondary/legacy) | |
| Marketing | HubSpot CRM/email |
| Internal Comms | Meta Workplace, Google Sites intranet |
| Broadcast Infrastructure | Overdrive streaming (2 nodes + 2 backups), Xpression CG graphics, medianet |
| Address | 860 Pacific Street, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (new facility under construction) |
| Incorporated | February 10, 1981 (NY DOS ID #678455) |
| Founded as DeSales Media | 2011 by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio |
| Employees | ~101–108 |
| Estimated Revenue | $11–15M annually |
| Total Assets | $22.9M (Instrumentl) |
Budget Signals
Direct Funding Confirmed
| Source | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PPP Loan (forgiven) | $1.39M | COVID-era; managed by McKeon-Slattery |
| NYSERDA energy efficiency rebate | Undisclosed | State energy grant |
| NYC Council discretionary funding | Undisclosed | City-level funding |
| Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn & Queens | Ongoing | Grantee for media/comms programs |
Indirect/Affiliated Funding
| Source | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FEMA (post-Hurricane Sandy) | $18M | Secured via lobbying by Vincent LeVien; Diocese was recipient |
| PPP — Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph | $174K | Managed by same DeSales staff (McKeon-Slattery) |
Revenue Model
- Advertising sales (NET TV, The Tablet, Nuestra Voz) — media kit reveals rate cards
- Diocese operational funding — subordinate in Diocese's IRS group ruling
- Donor fundraising — Bishop's Golf Classic has raised $2.7M+ cumulatively
- Grants from Catholic Foundation BQ
No USASpending recipient profile exists. Funding flows through the Diocese or state/city channels.
Where Oahe could help them spend better: Their technology stack is sophisticated but fragmented across 4+ vendors (Pantheon, Google, GoDaddy, HubSpot, Meta). Data integration, analytics dashboards for audience measurement, or unified infrastructure reporting would have immediate value.
Technology Gaps
Security Posture
- DMARC at
p=none(monitor-only) — email domain is spoofable - HSTS max-age=300 (5 minutes) — effectively no HSTS protection
- Missing: Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options
- 3 expired Cloudflare subdomains (chromebook, dialpad, ipad) — dangling DNS risk
Infrastructure Fragmentation
- DNS on GoDaddy, hosting on Pantheon, email on Google, broadcast on GoDaddy-certified Overdrive nodes
- 4 different certificate authorities (Let's Encrypt, Google Trust Services, GoDaddy, Cloudflare)
- Dual Microsoft + Google SPF includes suggest incomplete migration
- Site named
live-desales-redesign-2020— last major redesign was 6 years ago
Broadcast Infrastructure (revealed by CT logs)
- Overdrive streaming: 2 production nodes + 2 backup nodes (enterprise-grade video)
- Xpression CG: Ross Video broadcast graphics system (professional equipment)
- Medianet: internal media network
- Supports NET TV (24/7 cable) and Currents News production
Where Oahe fits: Security hardening (DMARC enforcement, security headers, subdomain audit), infrastructure consolidation, and data analytics for media properties. Broadcast expertise is strong but web/data security is underinvested.
Decision Makers
| Name | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bill O'Brien | Interim CEO | Interim status suggests search may be ongoing |
| Bob Sharp | ED of Technology, Engineering, Systems & Operations | Technical decision maker — controls infrastructure, broadcast |
| Vincent LeVien | Director of External Affairs | Government affairs; managed $18M FEMA effort |
| Matthew McKeon-Slattery | Deputy Director of External Affairs | Registered federal lobbyist; managed PPP, NYSERDA, NYC Council grants |
| Darcy Reyes | Director of Finance & Controller | Financial decision maker |
| William Maier | Chief Operating Officer | Operations leadership |
| Michelle Powers | News Director | Content/editorial decisions |
Key departed leader: Msgr. Kieran E. Harrington — founder and former President/Chairman, now CEO of RiseBoro Community Partnership. His departure represents a significant leadership vacuum.
Pain Points
- Leadership transition: Founder Harrington has departed. CEO position is interim (Bill O'Brien). The organization is likely in a strategic inflection point — decisions about direction, investment, and partnerships are in flux.
- Campaign contribution alert: Charity Navigator carries a March 2026 advisory citing Times Union reporting on illegal campaign contributions. Creates reputational risk regardless of outcome.
- Financial opacity vs. accountability: Church classification shields from 990 disclosure, but Charity Navigator cannot rate them, and donors/grantors who expect transparency may see this as a red flag.
- Infrastructure fragmentation: 4+ hosting/certificate vendors, dual email platforms, expired subdomains, and a 2020-era website suggest incremental rather than strategic IT decisions.
- FEMA denial: The denied COVID-19 PA claim (both appeals rejected) means FEMA does not consider DeSales an eligible facility — limits direct disaster recovery funding access.
- Aging web presence: Last redesigned in 2020. For a media organization, a 6-year-old platform is aging. Content strategy relies on PDF uploads rather than native web content.
Competitive Landscape
- Catholic media competitors: EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) is the dominant national Catholic media org. DeSales/NET TV is regional (NY metro).
- Diocesan media models: Other large dioceses (LA, Chicago) operate their own media offices but none with DeSales' consolidated multi-platform approach.
- Technology vendors: Pantheon hosting, HubSpot marketing, Ross Video (Xpression/Overdrive) broadcast equipment represent current vendor relationships.
- Foundation funding: Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens is a key funder — other Diocese-affiliated nonprofits compete for the same pool.
Timing Opportunities
- Leadership transition window: With an interim CEO and the founder departed, this is the most receptive period for new vendor/partner relationships. New leadership often wants to establish their own direction.
- New production facility: A new studio in Prospect Heights is under construction — capital investment cycles are when organizations reassess technology partnerships.
- Campaign contribution advisory: If leadership is managing reputational risk, they may welcome partnerships that strengthen public positioning around data transparency and operational maturity.
- Aging website: A 2020 redesign is 6 years old. If planning a refresh, that's an entry point for data services, analytics, and audience measurement.
- Spanish-language audience: ~55% of parish population is Spanish-speaking. Bilingual data analytics, audience segmentation, and engagement measurement for Nuestra Voz / Tu Fe Al Dia could be differentiated.
Recommended Approach
DeSales Media Group is a mid-size nonprofit media operation ($11–15M revenue, ~100 employees) in leadership transition, with sophisticated broadcast infrastructure but fragmented web/data operations. The entry point is technology assessment and security hardening — their DMARC, HSTS, and subdomain posture have concrete, demonstrable gaps that Oahe can identify and fix. The deeper play is audience analytics and data infrastructure for their multi-platform media properties (NET TV, The Tablet, Nuestra Voz, digital). Position as a data partner, not a media vendor. The interim CEO window and new facility construction create natural timing for engagement. Lead with the audit — the digital footprint findings (19 subdomains in CT logs, expired DNS records, spoofable email domain) are immediately actionable conversation starters.