Dramatists Legal Defense Fund
Legal name: Dramatists Legal Defense Fund Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 270999829
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2012–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, US
- Phone
- (866) 236-6842
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $25,677
- Expenses
- $99,110
- Assets
- $35,284
- Liabilities
- $936
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOHN WEIDMAN (PRESIDENT)
- RICK PAPPAS (VICE PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- JOHN WEIDMAN (PRESIDENT)
- RICK PAPPAS (VICE PRESIDENT)
- RALPH SEVUSH (TREASURER/SECRETARY)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
A resource in defense of the First Amendment for theatre writers.
What it reported doing in 2024
Protection of progress of useful arts and advancement of matters having general public import with relation to stage authors rights to their respective writing.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 18
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 56.4%; rating input score 56
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -286%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.36; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -4.5% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 56.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $56K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.