National Book Foundation Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Awards and honorsthe national book awards (nbas) are one of the nation's most prestigious literary prizes, with a stellar record of identifying and rewarding quality writing. Within a decade of its founding in 1950, the nbas acknowledged the work of writers such as hannah arendt, w.h. Auden, saul bellow, truman capote, rachel carson, ralph ellison, william faulkner, marianne moore, vladimir nabokov, flannery o'connor, katherine anne porter, adrienne rich, eudora welty, and william carlos williams-authors who have helped shape the foundation of literature in the united states. This tradition continues, with the nbas today honoring a diverse community of writers including elizabeth acevedo, robert a. Caro, masha gessen, terrance hayes, ibram x. Kendi, laszio krasznahorkai, jacqueline woodson, jesmyn ward, and colson whitehead, among many others. Awards are selected by a panel of peer writers and literary leaders, and are currently presented in five categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people's literature. In fiscal year 2025 the winners were, respectively: james by percival everett; soldiers and kings: survival and hope in the world of human smuggling by jason de len; something about living by lena khalaf tuffaha; taiwan travelogue by yang shuang-zi, translated from the mandarin chinese by lin king; and kareem between by shifa saltagi safadi. The national book foundation also awards an annual medal for distinguished contribution to american letters to a person or entity "who, in the opinion of the board of directors of the national book foundation, has enriched our literary heritage over a life of service, or corpus of work." in fiscal year 2025, the medal was presented to writer barbara kingsolver. The national book foundation also presents an annual literarian award for outstanding service to the american literary community, which in fiscal year 2025 was awarded to publisher w. Paul coates. Finally, the 5 under 35 program identifies and celebrates five emerging fiction writers annually, selected by former national book award finalists and winners. In fiscal year 2025, the honorees were stacie shannon denetsosie, megan howell, maggie millner, alexander sammartino, and jemimah wei.nba-honored authors are the cornerstone of the national book foundation's programs, which serve readers of all ages across the country, free-of-charge, with a strong emphasis on urban and rural communities where there are barriers to engagement with the literary arts.public programsthe national book foundation's public programs fall under the moniker of nbf presents, a series of public readings and topical conversations with national book foundation-honored authors at colleges, universities, libraries, prisons, performance venues, and book festivals across the country, and includes topical programs like science + literature, which identifies three books annually to deepen readers' understanding of science and technology with a focus on work that highlights the diversity of voices in scientific writing. The science + literature selections in fiscal year 2025 were the last animal by ramona ausubel, meltwater by claire wahmanholm, and an immense world: how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us by ed yong. In fiscal year 2025, nbf presents included hybrid and in-person programming, and curated 25 events featuring 68 national book foundation-honored authors, distributing 1,000 free books, and engaging over 8,619 audience members. Education and accessthe national book foundation is committed to inspiring a love of reading among young people through educational programs such as bookup, a writer-led, after-school program for middle-school students in three us cities; book rich environments, which in fiscal year 2025 distributed over 303,866 free books to children and families living in public housing authorities in 62 communities across 39 states and Washington, dc; teen press conference, an opportunity for stude

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 88%; rating input score 88
• Program expense ratio: 77.1%; rating input score 77
• Fundraising efficiency: $6.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th 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: 70.2%; rating input score 70; 19th percentile among comparable filings
• 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: 8 of 8 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: 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: -13.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.68; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 13.5%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings