826DC
Legal name: 826Dc Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 262426166
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009, Form 990-N 2007
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2024176109
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $975,849
- Expenses
- $987,025
- Assets
- $876,576
- Liabilities
- $700,933
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ROBYN LINGO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (SINCE AUG))
Highest reported compensation
- ANDREA NELSON (INTERIM ED (THRU JULY)): $99,618 total reported compensation
- ROBYN LINGO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (SINCE AUG)): $46,858 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
826DC helps DC students strengthen their writing skills, share what matters to them, and build a lifelong relationship with writing.
What it reported doing in 2024
Student programs - in fy25, 826dc served 2,000 students through its literacy-focused program, each designated to cultivate writing skills and provide publication opportunities for dc students. Our core programs include the young authors' book project, field trips, in-school programs, after-school writing lab, workshops, and reading all stars. In addition to developing and executing original curricula, 826dc published student work, including the anthologies, "now i see with open eyes, and "dear adult."
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 52
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 57.3%; rating input score 57
- Program expense ratio: 56.9%; rating input score 57
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.1%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.8; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.8%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 57.3% of revenue deployed · 56.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $562K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.