The Reading Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
934843895
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
9177457797
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,830
Expenses
$837,555
Assets
$563,310
Liabilities
$119,328

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINA OLIVER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JAYNE BENTZEN (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • CHRISTINA OLIVER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JAYNE BENTZEN (PRESIDENT)
  • DIANE ARCHER (DIRECTOR)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The Reading Institute brings free evidence-based tutoring programs to striving readers across the country and provides reading science-aligned professional development to teachers.

What it reported doing in 2025

The initiatives of the reading institute (tri) seek to expand the reach of reading ready, reading go and tri's science of reading intro course to support educators and tutors in helping k-2 students build the skills they need to become successful readers. Our work centers on three strategic initiatives: (1) university tutoring collaborative (2) school and district partnerships and (3) direct support and training for caregivers and educators.university tutoring collaborative - we develop aligned partnerships with over 25 universities to create high-impact tutoring opportunities for pre-service educators in collaboration with local schools and communities.school and district partnerships - we provide virtual and in-person training in the reading ready and reading go programs for hundreds of teachers, interventionists, reading specialists, and paraprofessionals. Our 10-hour science of reading microcredential course, paired with a facilitator guide, lays the foundation for grade-level teams to build a shared knowledge base in reading instruction. The intervention programs can be used as stand alone interventions or together these tools can provide practical, evidence-based training, professional learning and interventions to support striving readers.direct support and training for caregivers and educators - we offer asynchronous professional learning and high-dosage, evidence-based interventions for k2 students through community partners, schools, and directly to caregivers and educators. Programs, training and resources include:-reading go!-reading ready educator guide-reading ready letter knowledge guide-reading ready caregiver guide-reading ready word analysis-10-hour science of reading intro course

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 63% for direct work, and 37% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 55.8%; rating input score 56; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4,597.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -14.2% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -196.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -78.8% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $591K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.