The Dictionary Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571029802
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Wellington, FL, USA
Phone
8438562706
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,731,653
Expenses
$2,906,073
Assets
$506,298
Liabilities
$400,829

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DOUGLAS BOGGIE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY FRENCH (EXECUTIVE DI): $180,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the dictionary project is to ensure that everyone will be able to enjoy the benefits of owning a dictionary. This program assists people in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift. Educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn. We strive to include every student each year. A dictionary is an essential tool for a quality education. A child cannot do his or her best work without one.

What it reported doing in 2025

The dictionary project functions and strives to ensure that people throughout the united states and around the world are able to enjoy the benefits of owning a dictionary. Program efforts are focused primarily on assisting all people in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers, and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary. As an organization, we believe that a dictionary is an essential tool for a quality education, and that one cannot do their best work without a dictionary. The dictionary project makes people self-reliant by providing them with a resource that serves to help them better understand how to approach a problem by sounding out a word and using critical thinking skills to find it in a dictionary; this exercise gives them a feeling of satisfaction and self confidence that an online dictionary doesn't offer and helps further develop an appreciation of the connections that are formed with words. During 2025, approximately 683,000 dictionaries were given to students in the united states and around the world. With this resource, people can become more self-reliant and be better able to communicate their unique thoughts and ideas, by sharing their most innate gifts with others.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $57.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.4%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.79; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $180K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.