To further the common good and general welfare of the tallahassee, FL area community by promoting a public literary festival for the benefit of the citizens of leon county, Florida and the state of Florida and surrounding areas.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
97¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 100 volunteers.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
1 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average deficit $14K a year · 3% of revenue · last 6 filings
Concern: a surplus in 1 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
97%
of spending
Looks good: 97% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
<1 mo
of spending, in cash
Concern: 0.4 months of spending in cash; under 2 weeks.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $12K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$35K
175% of total assets
Concern: liabilities are 175% of assets; over 80%.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
21
of 21 voting members
Looks good: 21 of 21 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$631K
+36% vs prior year
Spent
$655K
To programs
97%
Net assets
−$15K
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$631K
FY2025▲ +36%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$289K
FY2021$181K
FY2022$342K
FY2023$652K
FY2024$465K
FY2025$631K
Expenses
$655K
FY2025▲ +30%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$126K
FY2021$260K
FY2022$360K
FY2023$737K
FY2024$504K
FY2025$655K
Net assets
−$15K
FY2025▼ -268%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$230K
FY2021$151K
FY2022$133K
FY2023$48K
FY2024$9K
FY2025−$15K

From the FY2025 Form 990 (year ending June 2025) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Apr 2014.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

97 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 97% · $633K Management & general 2% · $16K Fundraising 1% · $6K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

22 people listed on the 990.

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

Sara Marchessault’s $33K as Executive Di is at the 27th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2216 $100K–1M arts & culture 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

NameFY2024FY2023
Sara Marchessault$32,917$27,083

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 Florida Litfest INC executive salaries →

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Promotes a public literary festival for the Tallahassee area community.

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $633K · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

The word of south festival is our signature event. This annual event was held in april 2025 and featured both ticketed as well as free events. Performers included over 80 musicians, writers, and poets. The two days of free events were attended by approximately 10,000 people.

$633Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$12K
Grants paid · 1 grant · $10K · 2019–2019
Unitemized GrantFY2019$10,500

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$631K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$555K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$76K
Money outPt IX
$655K
Ln 25
Programscol B$633K
Managementcol C$16K
Fundraisingcol D$6K
Owns and owesPt X
−$15K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$20K
Total assetsLn 16$20K
LiabilitiesLn 26$35K
PeoplePt VI, VII
22
listed · VII A
PaidVII A0
Voting boardVI 1a21
IndependentVI 1b21
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$555K
Government grantsLn 1e$116K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$76K
Total revenueLn 12$631K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$20K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$20K
Total assetsLn 16$20K
LiabilitiesLn 26$35K
Net assetsLn 32−$15K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 50
VolunteersI 6100
Fiscal year endsHeaderJune
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$13K$20K
Total assetsLn 16$13K$20K
LiabilitiesLn 26$4K$35K
Net assetsLn 32$9K−$15K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Management feesLn 11a$40K$32K$6K$2K
Accounting feesLn 11c$9K$9K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$279K$279K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$77K$73K$4K
Office expensesLn 13$14K$13K$1K
TravelLn 17$70K$70K
InsuranceLn 23$383$345$38
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$165K$165K
Total functional expensesLn 25$655K$633K$16K$6K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest Viewing $631K$655K−$24K−$15K 990 PDF
FY2024 $465K$504K−$39K$9K 990 PDF
FY2023 $652K$737K−$86K$48K 990 PDF
FY2022 $342K$360K−$18K$133K 990 PDF
FY2021 $181K$260K−$79K$151K 990 PDF
FY2020 $289K$126K$163K$230K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $631,139 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $454,275$554,949
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $10,443$76,190
I-10 Investment income$0
I-11 Other revenue$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $464,718$631,139
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paid$0
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefits$0
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $503,513$655,107
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $503,513$655,107
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$38,795−$23,968
Part VI · Governance 21 of 21 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body21
VI-1b Independent voting members21
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $631,139 across 5 lines filed
VIII-1e Government grants$115,692
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$439,257
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$554,949
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $76,190$76,190
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $76,190$631,139
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $655,107 across 8 lines filed
IX-11a Management feesPrograms $32,000 · Management $6,000 · Fundraising $2,000$40,000
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $8,867$8,867
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $279,364$279,364
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $73,262 · Fundraising $3,856$77,118
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $13,313 · Management $1,070$14,383
IX-17 TravelPrograms $70,346$70,346
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $345 · Management $38$383
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $164,646$164,646
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $633,276 · Management $15,975 · Fundraising $5,856$655,107
Part X · Balance sheet $19,703 assets, 7 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $12,910$19,703
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $12,910$19,703
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $4,046$34,558
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $4,046$34,558
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $8,864−$14,855
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $8,864−$14,855
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $12,910$19,703
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets −$14,855 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$631,139
XI-2 Total expenses$655,107
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$23,968
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$8,864
XI-8 Prior period adjustments$249
XI-10 Net assets at end of year−$14,855

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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