Divinity Comics Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
924000351
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Merrillville, IN, USA
Phone
2193315284
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$268,287
Expenses
$270,581
Assets
$18,418
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • William Wheeler (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • William Wheeler (CEO): $1 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Divinity Comics Inc. is dedicated to empowering communities through storytelling. Our primary mission is to use the art of comics and graphic novels to promote education inspire creativity foster cultural understanding and build stronger communities. We believe in the transformative power of creative expression to address social challenges enhance literacy and support personal development particularly among underserved populations.

What it reported doing in 2025

Artist Grants Program: Divinity Comics Inc. provided merit-based grants to individual artists to advance Western comic art. Grants supported the creation development and promotion of works in the Western genre preserving cultural storytelling traditions inspiring creativity and fostering education through graphic narratives. Selection was competitive and objective based on submitted artwork portfolios demonstrating artistic merit alignment with mission themes e.g. education cultural understanding community impact and potential for broader reach. [Insert specifics: e.g. Awarded $98,326 total in grants to 93 artists; projects included 8 comics graphic novels that reached W readers or were exhibited at events; artists reported professional growth and contributions to diverse comic heritage.] This program directly accomplishes our mission by empowering creators and enhancing literacy cultural awareness in underserved artistic communities. Through the artist grant program and production efforts the organization printed and distributed 12,209 comics and graphic novels to backers readers libraries schools and community centers reaching a wide audience and furthering education and cultural understanding.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 51% for direct work, and 49% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 16
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.9%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 97.1%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th 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: Fail
    • 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: -0.9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.9% of revenue deployed · 97.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 2 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $263K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1 · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and grants
  • Filing history: 1 filing year from 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.