First Draft Academy Inc (Formerly Write on Sports Inc)

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760810290
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
South Orange, NJ, USA
Phone
6462456174
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$413,201
Expenses
$367,271
Assets
$245,608
Liabilities
$23,971

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER FASTOVSKY (BOARD PRESIDENT & COO)

Highest reported compensation

  • BYRON YAKE (FOUNDER & DEVELOPMENT AMBA): $12,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

First draft academy (fda) is a New Jersey-based 501(c)(3) helping middle school students from under-resourced communities build writing skills, critical thinking and confidence using the lens of journalism through sports, arts, and digital storytelling. Fda partners with universities and cultural institutions to provide hands-on learning, real-world experiences, and opportunities for young writers

What it reported doing in 2025

First draft academy employs dynamic program models and instructional methods, allowing us to adapt content, pacing, and delivery to the needs of diverse student populations. We offer programs throughout the year with after-school workshops, multi-week summer programs, and event-based workshops. Currently, the themes explore the arts, sports and student topics of choice in write on sports, write on arts and the media lab. At their core, all first draft academy programs strengthen essential literacy skills, including writing, critical thinking, research, and multimedia production, while introducing students to the early foundations of real-world career pathways. In 2025, over 500 students were served in four states (nj, in, co, and ca). First draft academy was featured on the national morning show good morning america as a program working to help close the literacy education gap.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.4%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 64.2%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.1%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.4% of revenue deployed · 64.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $236K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.