Brooklyn Poets Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
455515074
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
7183741953
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$468,437
Expenses
$519,771
Assets
$650,269
Liabilities
$505,450

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jessica Greenbaum (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jason Koo (Treasurer): $62,590 total reported compensation
  • Miller Oberman (Board Member): $1,480 total reported compensation
  • Eugenia Leigh (Board Member): $771 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Celebrate & Cultivate Brooklyn Poetry

What it reported doing in 2024

We offered 70 workshops, serving 634 studentsincluding 54 fellows and 60 fellowship finalists. We also hosted over 60 events for 3000+ attendees. Our virtual Mentorship Program served 12 students in workshops, craft labs, and mentorship sessions over the course of the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 68% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 57
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 19th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.25; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.78; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 37% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.3% of revenue deployed · 80.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $419K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $63K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.