Transit Books

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474149554
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
9169757028
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,402,574
Expenses
$1,330,469
Assets
$810,163
Liabilities
$355,646

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ADAM LEVY (Executive Dir.): $56,554 total reported compensation
  • ASHLEY LEVY (Director): $19,632 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Transit books is a nonprofit publisher of international and american literature, based in the san francisco bay area. Founded in 2015, transit books is committed to the discovery and promotion of enduring works that carry readers across borders and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, Transit published 14 books from 10 countries, including How Dreadful! by Claire Lebourg (France), Traces of Enayat by Iman Mersal (Egypt), The Novices of Lerna by ngel Bonomini (Argentina), Giant on the Shore and Gigante en la orilla (Spanish Edition) by by Azul Lpez (Mexico), A Silent Language: The Nobel Lecture by Jon Fosse (Norway), Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda), Story of the Everything, the Nothing, and Other Strange Stories by Gyula Gbor Tth (Hungary), Speak / Stop by Nomi Lefebvre (France), Gifted by Suzumi Suzuki (Japan), A Sleepless Night by Micaela Chirif and Joaquin Camp (Argentina), A Day with Mousse and Like This by Claire Lebourg (France), and The Wilderness by Aysegul Savas.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 83% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd 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: 60%; rating input score 60; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.1%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 47.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.5% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 91.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $57K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.