Center for the Art of Translation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
912037187
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155128812
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,937,047
Expenses
$2,803,067
Assets
$11,600,143
Liabilities
$184,993

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Holtmann (President)
  • Olivia E Sears (President)
  • Barbara Paschke (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Holtmann (President): $149,125 total reported compensation
  • Christopher Evans (Editorial Director): $132,066 total reported compensation
  • Erin Branagan (Dev Director): $125,766 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bay Area community and increases access to literature locally and globally. The Centers publications, events, and educational programming build audiences for literature in translation, enrich the library of vital literary works, nurture and promote the work of translators, and honor the incredible linguistic and cultural diversity of our schools and our world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Literature in the Bay Area and beyond through in-person and online events, seminars, and hosted discussions. The series has been called a cultural treasure of San Francisco.Poetry Inside Out is a language arts curriculum that celebrates classroom diversity and builds literacy skills by teaching students to translate great poetry from around the world. Students learn vital reading and writing skills through a creative, imaginative program that puts poetry and translation at the heart of literacy instruction. Poetry Inside Out has brought essential enrichment opportunities to almost 10,000 students and teachers since 2000, and offers students the opportunity to study and translate poems from multiple languages and write their own poetry.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 38.3%; rating input score 38
  • Program expense ratio: 51.2%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th 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: 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 28.8%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.14; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 38.3% of revenue deployed · 51.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $149K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.