Write253
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 813531110
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Tacoma, WA, USA
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $146,184
- Expenses
- $173,235
- Assets
- $94,208
- Liabilities
- $1,179
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Dale King (President - Treasurer)
- Luke Byram (Vice President)
- Michael Haeflinger (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Dale King (President - Treasurer)
- Luke Byram (Vice President)
- Burl Battersby (Secretary)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Write253 is a literary arts and printmaking organization whose mission is to provide meaningful and transformative writing publishing and artistic opportunities that cross boundaries and create community for youth families and their caring adults in greater Tacoma.
What it reported doing in 2024
Educational Partnerships are programs in which Write253 teaching artists and guests offer workshops to youth in classrooms and other educational spaces such as libraries. These workshops take place online and in person. In the year 2025 we served 500 participants through educational partnerships which include in-school writing workshops partnerships with local non-profits and other educational opportunities for youth.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 91% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 44
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 22
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 47.4%; rating input score 47
- Program expense ratio: 40%; rating input score 40
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -18.5%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 28.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 47.4% of revenue deployed · 40% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $69K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.