South Carolina Academy of Authors

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
570953997
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2007
Location
Columbia, SC, USA
Phone
8646750540
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,614
Expenses
$17,026
Assets
$64,920
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

People named in this filing

  • CINDI BOITER (BOARD MEMBER)
  • WILMOT B IRVIN (CHAIR)
  • BETSY TETER (TREASURER)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Primary exempt purpose - educational - to identify and honor state's distinguished authors and to promote their literature's influence on our cultural heritage. Also promotes short fiction writing and poetry writing with an annual competition.

What it reported doing in 2025

Sponsor of the annual Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Fellowships in Poetry and Fiction, which annually awards $1500 to 1) an emerging or established adult poet in South Carolina and 2) an emerging or established adult fiction writer in South Carolina; and $250 to a student poet and a student fiction writer in South Carolina. Host of the biennial Academy of Authors Induction ceremony, which adds up to four writers to the state's Literary Hall of Fame. Host of the biennial Mims-Talmadge award ceremony which recognizes a person or organization that exemplifies literary advocacy in South Carolina.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.9%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 74.4%; rating input score 74

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.4%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.81; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.9% of revenue deployed · 74.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $13K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.