Get Lit - Words Ignite Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264644018
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
2133888639
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,471,417
Expenses
$2,837,298
Assets
$1,608,962
Liabilities
$222,823

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DELTA WRIGHT (PRESIDENT)
  • DIANE LUBY LANE (FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DIANE LUBY LANE (FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $252,874 total reported compensation
  • MASON GRANGER (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $104,537 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Get lit words ignite inspires literacy, wellness, creativity, and workforce development for young people through spoken word poetry and media.in 2023-24, get lit directly served 8,000 teens, and reached 50,000 youth through all programs, services, and performances. 85% of those we served are from under-resourced areas and enrolled in title i schools, and 92% are youth of color.

What it reported doing in 2024

Our new creative suite of programs include: film lab, creative camp, and creative career lab (ccl). Film lab is a year-long program for our high-school students with weekly workshops in all aspects of filmmaking. Each semester, the class is broken into 4 weeks of pre-production, 4 weeks of production, and 4 weeks of post-production. Guests and mentors for film lab have included representatives from the wga, monkeypaw productions, lionsgate, tollin productions, artists first, and award-winning cinematographers, directors, and lighting technicians. Creative career lab (ccl) is a year-long job training program in creative fields that culminates in participant placement in paid full-time jobs with our entertainment and nonprofit partners. Participants receive professional-level training, portfolio development, 1 on 1 mentorship, and job placement. It also includes financial and media literacy training; "soft" skills such as communication, teamwork, and professionalism; career planning; and invaluable networking. Get lit received a major grant from the state of California for support of the creative career lab. Out of 30 statewide recipients of the California governor's office of business and economic development's California community reinvestment grant (calcrg), we are the only arts organization grantee, and one of only five who received the full $3m grant over 3 years.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -14.8%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87% of revenue deployed · 75.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $253K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.