Promising Pages Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452540702
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
7043991934
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,199,100
Expenses
$1,077,687
Assets
$475,531
Liabilities
$10,086

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Kelly Cates (Executive Dir.): $59,664 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Promising Pages is The Charlotte Area Book Bank! Our mission is to collect new and donated books and share them with children living in the Charlotte Area Book Desert: those with few, if any, books at home. We work to create a culture of book sharing and ownership. We envision a world where all children have home libraries of self-selected books, can see themselves reflected in the books they read, and have made reading a joyful habit for a lifetime.

What it reported doing in 2024

During the 20242025 fiscal year, Promising Pages increased access to free, high-quality childrens books for children and families facing barriers to book ownership. The organization shared 265,134 books with 54,009 children and 197 community partners, reaching 27 zip codes across 13 counties and operating 32 Reading Resource Centers in community-based locations. Since its founding in 2012, Promising Pages has shared more than 2 million books, helping children build home libraries and positive attitudes towards books and reading.Promising Pages Book Access System ensures families can find free books where they live, play, and learn through multiple coordinated programs. Books on Break, an evidence-based summer reading program, provided 71,320 books through 23 free school book fairs, enabling 12,705 PreK5th grade students to choose five books each to take home for the summer. School partner surveys reported that 100% of participating schools observed increased excitement around reading, viewed the program as important in preventing summer learning loss, and had no alternative source of summer reading books for students.The Bookseed program partnered with affordable housing communities to help 1,365 children build self-selected home libraries of 25 free books, while expanding to six new communities for a total of 15 Bookseed sites. Promising Pages also strengthened community infrastructure by establishing 16 new Reading Resource Centers, expanding the total to 32, and connecting families to more than 20 literacy-focused organizations through on-site and digital resources. Through the Community Partner Program, Promising Pages provided $672,453 worth of free books, saving partner organizations significant program costs and enabling them to better serve children and families. The Feed the Body, Feed the Mind program reached 5,409 students by distributing 15,458 books alongside food through partnerships with five food pantry locations. Program delivery was supported by 4,862 volunteer hours, amplifying community investment and operational efficiency.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.2%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $26.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.1%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.2% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $961K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.