Graywolf Press

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911257237
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6516410077
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,332,156
Expenses
$4,127,404
Assets
$4,076,497
Liabilities
$809,501

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • CARMEN SMITH (DIRECTOR/PUBLISHER): $206,205 total reported compensation
  • KATIE DUBLINSKI (ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER): $136,970 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Graywolf press publishes risk-taking, visionary writers who transform culture through literature. When writers are free to do their most ambitious work, their books serve as portals to new possibilities and enable deeper understanding between people. Readers are changed by graywolf's books, which are fearlessly acquired, attentively edited, and energetically promoted.

What it reported doing in 2025

Editorial services. Graywolf editors continue to seek singular work that is engaged with contemporary issues of our time, as well as voices, stories, and genres that are underrepresented in commercial publishing. Editors acquired 25 new manuscripts in 2025. We are gratified by awards that demonstrate the excellence of our publishing program. In 2025, danez smith's bluff was recognized as a finalist for the pulitzer prize in poetry, the anisfield-wolf book award, and the heartland booksellers award, and was on the longlist for the brooklyn public library book prize. Bluff won the Minnesota book award for poetry, and graywolf's fiftieth anniversary anthology, raised by wolves, was a finalist in the anthology category. Dobby gibson won the four quartets prize from the poetry society of america for a poem sequence from hold everything. Additionally, shubha sunder's optional practical training won the new american voices award at fall for the book and was a finalist for the center for fiction first novel prize

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% 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

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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: 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: -23.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 74.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $206K · 24 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.