American Literary Translators Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742157964
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone
5202015286
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$677,645
Expenses
$634,231
Assets
$1,111,352
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Elisabeth Jaquette (Executive Director (07.01.24-08.31.24))
  • Sean Gasper Bye (Interim Executive Director (8.31.24-04.28.25))
  • Katrine Jensen (Executive Director (04.28.25-06.30.25))
  • Chenxin Jiang (President (Fall 2023-5/2026))
  • Corine Tachtiris (Vice President (Fall 2023-5/2026))

Highest reported compensation

  • Sean Gasper Bye (Interim Executive Director (8.31.24-04.28.25)): $52,500 total reported compensation
  • Katrine Jensen (Executive Director (04.28.25-06.30.25)): $13,064 total reported compensation
  • Elisabeth Jaquette (Executive Director (07.01.24-08.31.24)): $8,750 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To support the work of literary translators, advance the art of literary translation, serve translators, and the students, teachers, publishers, and readers of literature in translation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Awards : ALTA awards six major prizes at the annual conference: the National Translation Award in Poetry and Prose, for an exceptional book of translated literature published within the previous year; the ALTA First Translation Prize, for an exceptional debut literary translation published within the previous calendar year; the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, for an exceptional work of Asian poetry or source text from Zen Buddhism in English translation published within the previous year; the Italian Prose in Translation Award (IPTA), for an exceptional work of Italian prose in English translation published within the previous year; and the Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award (SUFTA), for an exceptional work of prose written originally by an author with Spanish (Spain) nationality in English translation published within the previous year. ALTA also offers the ALTA Travel Fellowships for emerging translators (those with no full-length translations yet published or under contract) to attend the annual conference. In 2024, the Travel Fellowships program supported 4 emerging translators. -6 awards bestowed, 4 Travel Fellowships bestowed -A total of $31,000 in funds given to translators: -National Translation Award in Poetry: $4,000 -National Translation Award in Prose: $4,000 -ALTA First Translation Prize: $3,000 -Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize: $6,000 [$10,000 starting in 2025 - will be reflected in FY26] -Italian Prose in Translation Award: $5,000 -Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award: $5,000 -Travel Fellowships: 4 x $1,000

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 82% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 88.1%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $44.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 5.3%; rating input score 5; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.4%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.6% of revenue deployed · 88.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $559K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $52K · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 33 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.