Southern Word INC EIN 26-3547391

Southern Word INC

EIN  26-3547391 Public charity (501(c)(3)) Nashville, TN
Form 990 (PDF) Compare with another nonprofit →
Is this your organization?
Claim this profile to manage it and share your story.
Claim
Provided by the organization

This section is blank until Southern Word INC claims this page.

Know this organization? Claim it to add your story

Size
$100K–1M
What they do
Empowering youth through creative literacy programs and solutions.
Leadership
Tim Schwarz · Director
Money in and out
$658K revenue, $682K expenses
Bottom line
78% program efficiency

Empowering youth through creative literacy programs and solutions. For fiscal year 2025 it reported $658K in revenue, $682K in expenses, and $238K in net assets.Pt I

Where the money goes · FY2025
Total revenue
$658K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$682K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$238K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$23K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.78 Management & general $0.21 Fundraising $0.01
Program efficiency
78%
of spending reaches programs▲ +1% vs prior filing year
Operating runway
0.7mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate▼ -59% vs prior filing year
Surplus margin
-4%
revenue over expenses, this year▼ -147% vs prior filing year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2025 · Form 990
Revenue
$658K
FY2025▼ -13%
Expenses
$682K
FY2025▼ -3%
Total assets
$253K
FY2025▼ -15%
Total liabilities
$16K
FY2025▼ -58%
Total revenue
$658K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$682K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$238K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$23K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$253K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B78%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 311
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 411
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

3 program services account for $532K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2024.
01

5286 students served as part of in-school arts education residencies and performances.

$282Kprogram expense
02

1237 students served as part of after-school and community workshops; 7265 people thorugh community performances

$135Kprogram expense
03

All other smaller events and programs to further literacy within the schools and surrounding community.

$115Kprogram expense

Run this program? Claim this org to tell your story

Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CSouthern Word INC
EINHdr · item D26-3547391
Principal addressHdr · item CNashville, TN
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.southernword.org
Year of formationHdr · item Lpending
State of legal domicileHdr · item MTN
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFYouth Development (O50)
Ruling yearIRS BMFMar 2009

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a11
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b11
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13Yes
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14Yes
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2024); the FY2025 filing did not itemize Part VII
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Benjamin Smith’s $61K as Ex Officio is at the 52nd percentile of top reported officer pay among 1985 $100K–1M youth development nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 1 named individual · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Benjamin Smith$61,492$48,985$48,985$51,017$47,110

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Southern Word INC executive salaries →

Are you one of these people? Claim this org to confirm your role

Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Program service revenue$420K · 64%
Contributions & grants$233K · 35%
Investment income$5K · 1%
Program service revenue64%$420K
Contributions & grants35%$233K
Investment income1%$5K
— government grantsLn 1e$212K
Total revenueLn 12$658K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.78 Management & general $0.21 Fundraising $0.01
Program services78%$532K
Management & general21%$142K
Fundraising1%$7K
Total functional expensesLn 25$682K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$41K
Total assetsLn 16$253K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$16K
Total net assetsLn 32$238K
Months of cash on handcomputed0.7

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2025 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $41K · Operating expenses/yr $682K
0.7 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $532K · Total expenses $682K
78%
Management & General
Management & general $142K · Total expenses $682K
21%
Fundraising
Fundraising $7K · Total expenses $682K
1%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $12K · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $82K
$0.14 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $233K · Total revenue $658K
35%
Government reliance
Government grants $212K · Total revenue $658K
32%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $420K · Total revenue $658K
64%
Investment reliance
Investment income $5K · Total revenue $658K
+1%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $420K · Total expenses $682K
62%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $658K · Prior year $759K
-13%
Revenue CAGR
FY2019 $541K · FY2024 $658K
+4%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $238K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $658K · Expenses $682K
-4%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $253K
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $238K · Total assets $253K
94%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $253K
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Tim Schwarz · Reported title DIRECTOR · Highest reported compensation $0 · Total expenses $682K
0%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $597K · Total expenses $682K
88%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 78%
Overhead ratio 21%
Fundraising cost ratio 3%
Revenue growth -13%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 2 funders$28K

Similar Organizations

Closest in mission — by what they do
See all organizations like Southern Word INC →

Compare

Search another nonprofit to view revenue, expenses, assets, key metrics, and leaders side by side

Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2025 (Latest)$658K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2024$759K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$703K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$562K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$528K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$541K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

Want to add your own materials alongside these filings? Claim this org

Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2025IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
Names, privacy, and removal requests More

The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.

Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.

We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.

Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.

If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.

Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.

If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.

If you ARE the filing organization, claim this org and add context

Made it to the end? Claim this organization

All figures are derived from public IRS Form 990 filings and are presented without evaluation of any organization. philanthropy.org does not rate, score, or rank organizations, including the peer-cohort and compensation comparisons above.