Authoring Action
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 383707584
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013
- Location
- Winston Salem, NC, USA
- Phone
- 3367491317
- Rating
- 89
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $225,983
- Expenses
- $319,053
- Assets
- $35,881
- Liabilities
- $26,273
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Lynn Rhoades (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Lynn Rhoades (Executive Director): $61,083 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 transform the lives of youth and adults through the power of creative writing, spoken word, visual and media arts, film-making and leadership education that promotes positive systemic change.
What it reported doing in 2024
Voices from the Dwelling was a series of creative writing workshops, which culminated in community wide engagements. Authoring Action and The Dwelling partnership produced Creative Writing Workshops and Community Wide Engagements that amplifies the voices of Winston Salems unhoused and housing insecure. Through a series of Authoring Action Creative Writing workshops and with support of local collaborating musicians, authors from The Dwelling have written monologues, poems, stories, and songs that give a glimpse into the full personhood of people living on the margins of our community. Their stories challenge the stereotypes that exist about people experiencing homelessness, and name the realities of the broken systems that may unwittingly contribute to the oppressive qualities of homelessness, individually, culturally and systemically. We also provide writing workshops in program partnership with Senior Services through the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness. Keys for Kids, founded by Ben Folds, provides free keyboard classes to children and youth.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 94
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 9
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $507.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 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: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -41.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.73; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $266K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $61K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.