Keplers Literary Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814833778
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Menlo Park, CA, USA
Phone
6503244321
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$373,082
Expenses
$397,450
Assets
$552,871
Liabilities
$138,361

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dan Gilbert (Board President)

People named in this filing

  • Patrick Corman (Treasurer)
  • Dan Gilbert (Board President)
  • Praveen Madan (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Keplers Literary Foundation ("KLF") is a public forum for information, education, and intellectual discourse to which all members of our community are welcome. KLF aspires to produce programs for people of all ages and backgrounds, including underserved segments of the community such as people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, senior citizens, people of color, people with special needs, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

What it reported doing in 2024

KLF is the lead organizer and convener of the Reimagining Bookstores initiative whose mission is to support independent bookstores in Deepening Literacy, Strengthening Communities, Paying Living Wages, and Adopting Sustainable Business Models. Programs include: 1) Organizing multi-stakeholder gatherings to facilitate system change, 2) Advise bookstores, philanthropists, and other stakeholders on a bold new vision for what bookstores can be - not just as retail spaces, but essential cultural, civic, and community institutions, and 3) Produce a documentary film about the future of independent bookstores.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.39; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.6% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $319K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.