LitArts RI

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824968555
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Providence, RI, USA
Phone
4013072450
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$327,897
Expenses
$327,808
Assets
$703,219
Liabilities
$3,301

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Anne Holland (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jodie Vinson (Program Director): $73,999 total reported compensation
  • Jillian Winters (Operations Director): $45,161 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

LitArts RI, formerly What Cheer Writers Club, supports Rhode Island's creators of the written, spoken and illustrated word through community events, free and low-cost business services, and discounted coworking space. As an umbrella organization, we serve as a centralized community connecting content creators, fans and literary organizations state-wide.Our mission is to elevate the content arts in our state by providing accessible workshops and community gatherings where writers can feel supported and known by fellow creatives and patrons of the arts. In addition, we seek to burnish Rhode Island's reputation as a literary destinationa place where content creators thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

LitArts RI supports Rhode Island writers and contributes to the state's arts ecosystem. The organization operates an award-winning Center in Providence offering creative workspace designed for writers, meeting rooms, an audio arts studio, and a local author library. LitArts RI programming includes over a dozen local writing groups, craft workshops led by local teaching artists, professional development practicums for writers. In addition, the organization holds community events such as write-ins and spoken word events at external venues including local bookshops and arts organizations. In 2024, program highlights included a Writing + Wellness Resource Fair in which LitArts RI brough the community together to support writers and help them find the resources they need to thrive. LitArts RI also debuted Writers Like Us, a day of free programming designed by and for BIPOC creatives. The organization offered professional development through Build Your Creative Capital, an application support day for writers, and finished out the year with a panel on Queries, Proposals and Publishing for Writers of Genre. In addition, LitArts RI hosted 22 writing workshops, 15 writing groups and showcased the work of over 200 local artists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 68% 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.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.15; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.4%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 68.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $225K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.