Power of the Pen

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341620043
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
North Canton, OH, USA
Phone
3304950338
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$272,794
Expenses
$246,385
Assets
$320,528
Liabilities
$4,100

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Julie Lyberger (President & Regional Direc)

Highest reported compensation

  • Julie Lyberger (President & Regional Direc): $8,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Hold interscholastic writing tournaments for 7th and 8th graders throughout Ohio. We support the teaching of writing in middle schools by providing and encouraging the use of mentor texts, holistic evaluation, small-group writing workshops, and ongoing writing practice that encourages creativity and student choice.

What it reported doing in 2025

Hosted 26 district, regional, and state writing tournaments for more than 256 schools across Ohio, with the state tournament held at Ashland University. The highest-quality writing from the season was published in a book that is made available to Power of the Pen teams and teachers to serve as mentor texts for middle school writers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 93.9%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.3; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.8% of revenue deployed · 93.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $231K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $8K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.