Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
432066514
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027580829
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Remedial Reading, Reading Encouragement

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,377,323
Expenses
$2,991,819
Assets
$4,636,596
Liabilities
$153,476

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tara Libert (Executive Director)
  • Chris Turner (President)
  • Joseph Caleb (Vice-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tara Libert (Executive Director): $145,576 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Organization builds community to foster personal development and systems change for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth and adults through the literary arts, workforce development, trauma healing and peace-building.

What it reported doing in 2025

During 2025, Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop (Organization) served more than 1,800 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youths and adults through four programs: Jail Book Club weekly book club discussions and writing workshops with incarcerated teens and adults; we served 462 members in the Jail Book Club, including 216 women and 60 youths, as well as a dedicated Spanish language book club. 80% of our members completed their weekly reading assignments and 79% completed the writing assignments. Prison Book Club a long-distance, correspondence-based book club and writing workshop with adults incarcerated in correctional facilities across the United States; 898 members in more than 110 facilities received 5 issues of our magazine, the Free Minds Connect, written by and for our members, and 5,674 books personally curated for them. Members exchanged over 2,050 letters with staff, volunteers, and peers and submitted 458 original poems. Reentry Book Club a reading, writing, and job readiness program that includes wraparound case management and job and school placements for formerly incarcerated youths and adults; served 412 members in the Reentry Book Club. 90% of members were employed, in school, or in vocational training programs and 95% did not return to jail or prison. On the Same Page a community education and peacebuilding program in which formerly incarcerated Reentry Book Club members, known as Poet Ambassadors, share poetry and personal experiences with diverse audiences to build awareness of the systemic causes and impact of mass incarceration. We conducted 115 On the Same Page sessions with schools, corporate workplaces, and community groups, reaching 2,593 participants. Throughout 2025, Free Minds members continued to lift one another up, using the power of literature and community to heal and pursue their personal and professional aspirations. Free Minds members also stepped into leadership roles across the organization, with 168 members serving as peer supporters, advocates, and facilitators, strengthening pathways to successful reentry and long-term stability.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 94.8%; rating input score 95; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 11.4%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.7% of revenue deployed · 82.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 31 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.