Words in the Wild FY2024 filing

Tax-deductible

Oakland, CA501(c)(3)EducationEIN 81-2951256Revenue $271K in FY2024

On file with the IRSwordsinthewild.org2939 Summit Street Set 201, 94609-3404 · Oakland, CATax-exempt since Nov 2019Publicly supported — 509(a)(2)

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At Words in the Wild, it is our mission to make learning to read and write a joyful pursuit for children and the adults who teach and love them.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
65¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$24K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2024 · 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
Spent on programs
65%
of spending
Worth a look: 65% of spending went to programs; under 65%.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$24K
to officers and key staff · 10% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 10% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
2 mo
of spending, in cash
Fine: 2.2 months of spending in cash; 1 to 3.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Liabilities
$30
0.06% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 0% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
2
of 3 voting members
Looks good: 2 of 3 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$271K
+62% vs prior year
Spent
$254K
To programs
65%
Net assets
$46K
By yearFY2022–FY2025
Revenue
$271K
FY2024▲ +62%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2022$103K
FY2023$167K
FY2024$271K
FY2025$33K
Net assets
$46K
FY2024▲ +58%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2022$12K
FY2023$29K
FY2024$46K
FY2025$7K

From the FY2024 Form 990 (year ending June 2024) · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Nov 2019.

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

Where the money goes

65 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 65% · $164K Management & general 35% · $89K

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

3 people listed on the 990; $24K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2023); the FY2024 filing did not itemize Part VII
Executive Dir.
$24,320Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Alexis Filippini’s $6K as Board Chair is at the 26th percentile of top reported officer pay among 146 <$100K education 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

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022
Alexis Filippini$6,048$24,320$24,320$24,960

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.

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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

Helps children and adults joyfully learn to read and write.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $164K · in their own filed words · FY2023
01

Group/Public Programming

StoryTimes, small group WordLab and Nature Journaling Workshops, summer camp and counselor in training program. 236 children received2126 hours of programming provided.

$98Kprogram expense
02

Individual Tutoring

1:1 reading and writing support. 14 families (15 children) received 610 direct hours of tutoring support and additional 305 hours of indirect teacher prep and support.

$56Kprogram expense
03

Parent/Teacher Training

Teaching fellowship, volunteer program,professional development for teachers and teaching students, resource distribution and support. 123 teachers received 142hours or training and received 9 distributed resources.

$11Kprogram expense

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$271K
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$268K
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$3K
Money outPt IX
$254K
Ln 25
Programscol B$164K
Managementcol C$89K
Owns and owesPt X
$46K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$46K
Total assetsLn 16$46K
LiabilitiesLn 26$30
PeoplePt VI, VII
3
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a3
IndependentVI 1b2
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$3K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$268K
Gains on assetsLn 7$0
Total revenueLn 12$271K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$46K
SavingsLn 2$0
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$46K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$0
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$0
Other assetsLn 15$500
Total assetsLn 16$46K
LiabilitiesLn 26$30
Net assetsLn 32$46K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 511
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 FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$29K$46K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$0
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$0
Total assetsLn 16$29K$46K
LiabilitiesLn 26$0$30
Net assetsLn 32$29K$46K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$0
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$0
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$0
Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4$0
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$24K$17K$7K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$172K$120K$52K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$0
Other employee benefitsLn 9$1K$848$364
Payroll taxesLn 10$18K$13K$5K
Management feesLn 11a$0
Legal feesLn 11b$0
Accounting feesLn 11c$0
Lobbying feesLn 11d$0
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$0
Investment management feesLn 11f$0
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$5K$3K$1K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$709$709
Office expensesLn 13$2K$2K
Information technologyLn 14$7K$7K
RoyaltiesLn 15$0
OccupancyLn 16$7K$5K$2K
TravelLn 17$2K$1K$569
Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18$0
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$0
InterestLn 20$0
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$0
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$0
InsuranceLn 23$6K$6K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$7K$4K$3K
All other expensesLn 24e$3K$407$2K
Total functional expensesLn 25$254K$164K$89K$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest $33K$7K 990 PDF
FY2024 Viewing $271K$254K$17K$46K 990 PDF
FY2023 $167K$29K 990 PDF
FY2022 $103K$12K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $270,630 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grants$2,548
I-9 Program service revenue$268,082
I-10 Investment income$0
I-11 Other revenue$0
I-12 Total revenue$270,630
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paid$0
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefits$215,805
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expenses$37,928
I-18 Total expenses$253,733
I-19 Revenue less expenses$16,897
Part VI · Governance 2 of 3 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body3
VI-1b Independent voting members2
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 $270,630 across 9 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$2,548
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$2,548
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $268,082$268,082
VIII-3 Investment income$0
VIII-5 Royalties$0
VIII-6 Net rental income or loss$0
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assets$0
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising events$0
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $268,082$270,630
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $253,733 across 31 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizations$0
IX-2 Grants to domestic individuals$0
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipients$0
IX-4 Benefits paid to or for members$0
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $17,024 · Management $7,296$24,320
IX-6 Pay of disqualified persons$0
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $120,368 · Management $51,587$171,955
IX-8 Pension plan contributions$0
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $848 · Management $364$1,212
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $12,823 · Management $5,495$18,318
IX-11a Management fees$0
IX-11b Legal fees$0
IX-11c Accounting fees$0
IX-11d Lobbying fees$0
IX-11e Professional fundraising fees$0
IX-11f Investment management fees$0
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $3,276 · Management $1,254$4,530
IX-12 Advertising and promotionManagement $709$709
IX-13 Office expensesManagement $1,504$1,504
IX-14 Information technologyManagement $7,374$7,374
IX-15 Royalties$0
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $4,777 · Management $2,047$6,824
IX-17 TravelPrograms $1,327 · Management $569$1,896
IX-18 Travel and entertainment for public officials$0
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetings$0
IX-20 Interest$0
IX-21 Payments to affiliates$0
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortization$0
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $5,648$5,648
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $3,602 · Management $3,237$6,839
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $407 · Management $2,197$2,604
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $164,452 · Management $89,281 · Fundraising $0$253,733
Part X · Balance sheet $46,199 assets, 17 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $28,772$45,699
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investments$0
X-3 Pledges and grants receivable$0
X-4 Accounts receivable$0
X-8 Inventories for sale or use$0
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred charges$0
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, net$0
X-11 Publicly traded securities$0
X-12 Other securities$0
X-13 Program-related investments$0
X-14 Intangible assets$0
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $500$500
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $29,272$46,199
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expenses$30
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $0$30
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $29,272$46,169
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $29,272$46,199
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $46,169 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$270,630
XI-2 Total expenses$253,733
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$16,897
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$29,272
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$46,169

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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