Catamaran Literary Reader

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
455153607
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Phone
8318405099
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$178,599
Expenses
$165,388
Assets
$71,844
Liabilities
$71,455

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dan Haifley (Board President)
  • Catherine Segurson (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Catherine Segurson (Executive Director): $91,952 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Publish a quarterly literary journal, offer educational programs to the public related to the journal, and run a poetry competition, resulting in the publishing of a book of poetry by a West Coast poet.

What it reported doing in 2024

Published and distributed 4 quarterly editions of the literary journal Catamaran. Each edition was 144 pages in length and featured the new work of 195 contributors in poetry, fiction, translation, fine art and creative nonfiction. Each edition was distributed to subscribers, libraries and bookstores nationwide, with remaining copies donated to educational institutions. We completed the Catamaran Poetry Prize for West Coast Poets, based on an open-submissions process, which resulted in our publication of one book-length manuscript of original poetry. Held 8 free public reading events online for poets and writers and 6 online educational courses related to our literary journal.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.2%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $622.28 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 7.4%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.99; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 55.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 90.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.2% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $149K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $92K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.