The Muse Writers Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 562532348
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7578189880
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Continuing Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $607,506
- Expenses
- $599,625
- Assets
- $369,012
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- MICHAEL KHANDELWAL (EXECUTIVE DI): $67,534 total reported compensation
- DIANE FINE (SECRETARY): $6,150 total reported compensation
- LUISA IGLORIA (BOARDMEMBER): $1,800 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 muse writers center fosters and celebrates the literary arts throughout the community through high-quality education, networking, and support for aspiring and experienced writers of all ages, backgrounds, and means; engaging and creative outreach; and diverse and culturally relevant literary events.
What it reported doing in 2025
The muse writers center accomplished much in 2025,. We maintained our resource center for local writers, providing space for writers to write and network. We continued to catalog our literary library of more than 4,000 volumes, including a large international poetry collection. This year, we continued our in-person, hybrid, and online events, programs, and classes. We provided 180 low cost creative writing classes and workshops which served 1,017 students (from age 6 to post-retirement). Tuition assistance/scholarships were given to 554 of these students, and we also awarded several college scholarships. In 2025, we utilized 86 contracted teaching artists and facilitators. The muse vastly expanded outreach, bringing creative writing to senior living communities, youth programs and schools, and military & veterans groups, as well as continuing our words for wellness program which uses creative writing as a wellness tool for those dealing with severe illness, domestic trauma, loneliness, disability, homelessness, bereavement, and loss. Overall in 2025, we helped give writers a voice, organizing classes, outreach programs, readings, open mics, and writers events that reached 12 658 adults, teens, and kids. We also had the good fortune to enjoy 111 volunteers who donated their hard work to help with various events as well as in the resource center and with our online programming.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 38
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.3%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 90.3% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $548K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.