An Open Book Foundation

What it reported doing in 2024

An open book foundation's mission is to connect Washington, dc-area students with authors, illustrators, and their books to nurture a lifelong love of reading. We support educational justice by building equitable access to interactive literacy enrichment and high-quality books. Our vision is that children see themselves as readers, who use their written and visual literacy skills to navigate a complex world and define their own futures. Aob partners with title 1 schools in the dc metro area: wards 1,2,4,5,6,7,8 in dc; montgomery county and prince george's county, md; and alexandria city and fairfax county, va. In terms of the students we serve, 71% of students are in dc, 24% in Maryland, and 5% are in Virginia. Because we work in multiple jurisdictions, we also consider other data points to determine eligibility. Due to a long history of discriminatory policies in our country, students at the schools we serve are predominantly black, indigenous, and people of color. Not only do aob's literacy programs address these disparities, but they also infuse joy in the students, educators, and authors who experience them. Authors and illustrators present engaging book talks and interactive writing and drawing demonstrations and aob gives every student attending the event a copy of the author's book to add to their home library. School and classroom libraries receive a set of the author's titles. Since our first event in 2010, we have given over 125,000 books to students and schools at nearly 1,400 school visits where authors and illustrators made nearly 2,500 presentations. During presentations, authors interact with classes; while signing students' books authors engage in one-on-one conversations with each student. These talented authors and illustrators donate their time to provide dynamic, interactive experiences including writing workshops, read-alouds, and literacy-based art projects. Meeting professional book creators can introduce students to a future career path they may not have otherwise considered. Students can imagine themselves as writers or artists when they meet authors and illustrators who share their life experience or culture. Furthermore, with the addition of books to homes and schools, library circulation increases, home libraries expand, and students' enthusiasm grows. In addition to our flagship author and illustrator school visits program, an open book offers several other programs: -new and emerging artists of color - amplifying the creative voices of debut bipoc authors/illustrators.-artist-in-residence - multi-session visual art lessons.-stem residence - multi-session lessons exploring stem-related skills and concepts.-extension activities - follow-up events that deepen students' experiences with the books they receive.-cohort initiative - offers our full range of programming across the elementary school career of an entire grade at selected schools.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
• Program expense ratio: 70.7%; rating input score 71
• Fundraising efficiency: $5.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -11.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 9.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -6.9% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings