Children's Literacy Initiative
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 232515768
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Phone
- 2155614676
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Remedial Reading, Reading Encouragement
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,386,438
- Expenses
- $12,301,415
- Assets
- $3,188,112
- Liabilities
- $2,587,254
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
21 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DIANA GREENE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
- MARY LIST (REGIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- DIANA GREENE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $297,318 total reported compensation
- REINA PROWLER (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $291,082 total reported compensation
- ERICA HOLMES-WARE (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $274,648 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Children's literacy initiative ("cli") is a non-profit that empowers school leaders and teachers to transform instruction so that every child can become powerful readers, writers, and thinkers.
What it reported doing in 2024
Children's literacy initiative (cli) partners with schools, districts, and early childhood systems to strengthen literacy instruction so children become confident readers, writers, and thinkers. Cli addresses persistent inequities in instructional systems by helping education systems build coherent, sustainable instructional practices grounded in evidence-based literacy instruction, leadership development, educator coaching, and family partnership.cli provided professional learning workshops, job-embedded in-person and virtual coaching, leadership development, instructional support, and high-quality children's books to 1,183 educators serving 14,335 students across six states during the fiscal year. (con't in sch o)cli's work supports educators, school leaders, and instructional teams in implementing culturally sustaining and research-aligned literacy practices that improve classroom instruction and strengthen long-term student outcomes.cli partners with school systems to build institutional capacity rather than deliver short-term interventions alone. Services include instructional coaching, strategic planning support, classroom observation and feedback cycles, literacy leadership development, continuous improvement structures, and family engagement strategies designed to extend literacy learning beyond the classroom.the organization maintains a diversified revenue model that combines earned revenue through district and early childhood partnerships with philanthropic and public-sector investment. During the fiscal year, cli generated approximately $5.0 million in fee-for-service revenue through public education partnerships and received additional philanthropic and federal funding, resulting in total revenue of $9.4 million.cli continues to demonstrate strong financial stewardship and commitment to mission-focused resource allocation. Approximately 80.3% of total expenses were directed toward program services, with 10.8% allocated to management and general expenses and 8.9% dedicated to fundraising activities. Cli also consistently maintains four-star ratings from charity navigator, reflecting the organization's commitment to transparency, accountability, and effective governance.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 8
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 80.2%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -31.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.81; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.2%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $297K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $300K reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 9 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.