Grid Books Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274081852
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Marblehead, MA, USA
Phone
6178663481
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,940
Expenses
$53,151
Assets
$67,992
Liabilities
$2

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH MURPHY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KRISTEN HOLT-BROWNING (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • ELIZABETH MURPHY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KRISTEN HOLT-BROWNING (PRESIDENT)
  • ELIZABETH BATTEN (CLERK)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of grid books is to publish the creative work of underrepresented writers, to encourage and support the creation of such work, and in doing so, to educate the public through exposure to diversity of voices and perspectives.

What it reported doing in 2025

Grid books promotes engagement with literature by connecting authors to a wider and more culturally, geographically, and economically diverse audience. It's done by producing quality books that are accessible to as large a readership as possible. For example, during the pandemic, it was discovered grid books was able to reach individuals for whom in-person events are not manageable due to physical or geographical limitations. An audiobook list was launched that expanded our reach to include individuals whose engagement with poetry extends beyond the printed page. An audience of approximately 2,000 each year are served through our audio programming.

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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 71%; rating input score 71

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -153.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.28; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 39.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.5% per year; rating input score 0; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.4% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 71% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $38K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.