Skip to content
The Academy of American Poets Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Academy of American Poets Inc

To encourage, stimulate, and foster the production of american poetry by providing fellowships for poets of proven merit, by granting scholarships, awards and prizes for poetic achievement, and by other such means as the board of directors may devise and determine.

$2.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
26
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$97k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$2.7MEducation$264kYouth Development$145kScience & Tech$50kRecreation & Sports$25kHousing & Shelter$10kCommunity Improvement$10kHuman Services$8k
02FY2025 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 26 grants below total $504,044, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,317,561 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,813,517 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $372k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $97k
$17,500
Median grant
14
States reached
$17M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WOODLAND PATTERN BOOK CENTER$97,200
KUNDIMAN INC$39,600
CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC$38,500
BEYOND BAROQUE LITERARY ARTS CENTER$28,600
THE LAMBDA LITERARY FOUNDATION$21,100
YOUTH SPEAKS INC$21,100
MIZNA$21,100
MASSACHUSETTS POETRY OUTREACH PROJECT$21,100
POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA$21,100
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$21,100
ASIAN AMERICAN WRITERS WORKSHOP$21,100
PONGO POETRY PROJECT$20,000
URBAN WORD NYC$17,500
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY$10,000
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF COLORADO$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY23–23, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 5%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HAVEN VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND SUPPORT SER: $8k → 5%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
NH
WA
MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CA
CO
NE
KY
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
AR
TN
SC
DC
HI
LA
MS
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 34 repeat orgs$782k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
47

Total granted

$2.4M
$712k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+15%

Still filing today

94%
77%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $70k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterInternationalOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • WOODLAND PATTERN INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $293k · revenue +305%
  • CC
    CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $234k · revenue +562%
  • UW
    URBAN WORD NYC INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $155k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • TF
    THE FENNELLY-FRANKLIN CORP
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • TP
    TWIN POETS
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • CH
    COFFEE HOUSE PRESS INC
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -19%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Poetry Flash

Poetry flash builds community through literature

—
2
Nomadic Press

Through publications, events, and active community participation, Nomadic Press collectively weaves together platforms for intentionally marginalized voices to take their rightful place within the world of the written and spoken word.…

Arts & Culture
3
The Poetry Foundation
Arts & Culture
4
Gulf Coast - a Journal of Literature and Fine Arts

To publish and promote literature.

—
5
Public Poetry

Mission Statement - Public Poetry showcases the enduring power of poetry, conveys poetry's range, relevance and reach throughout the year. We uphold diverse voices, layer multiple genres, encourage collaborative possibilities, and provide…

Arts & Culture
6
The Black Literacy and Arts Collaborative Project
—
7
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Inc
—
8
Literary Cleveland

Literary Cleveland assists writers and readers at all stages of development, promotes new and existing literature of the highest quality, and advances Northeast Ohio as a vital center of diverse voices and visions.

Education
9
Host Literary

Host literary (dba: host publications) is an award-winning independent publisher located in austin, texas. devoted to our mission to elevate systemically marginalized writers, host publications creates literary events and publishes poetry…

Arts & Culture
10
Literary Freedom Project Inc

The Literary Freedom Project creates free, open spaces for communities to engage with books through weekly discussions and presentations. Our programs promote literacy, celebrate the diverse cultures of the Bronx and NYC, and foster…

Arts & Culture
11
Dzanc Books Inc

Dzanc Books was hailed as the future of publishing in Publishers Weekly in December 2007. Beginning with modest goals of publishing 4-6 titles each year, the house now publishes between 10-15 books annually. Notable and award-winning…

Arts & Culture
12
American Poetry Museum

The American Poetry Museum (APM) is dedicated to celebrating poetry, promoting literacy, fostering meaningful dialogue, encouraging an appreciation for the diversity of the American experience, and educating local, national, and…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Poets and Writers Inc; the most unlike its peers is Sibling Rivalry Press Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

96 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
91/96
Grantees still filing
58/96
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WOODLAND PATTERN INC: $292,860 · Arts & CultureWOODLAND PATTERN INCKUNDIMAN INC: $152,390 · Arts & CultureKUNDIMAN INCSplit This Rock Inc: $99,120 · Arts & CultureSplit This Rock IncMASSPOETRY INC: $85,420 · Arts & CultureCOPPER CANYON PRESS: $85,000 · Arts & CultureZOEGLOSSIA INC: $79,520 · Arts & CultureLAMBDA LITERARY FOUNDATION: $75,500 · Arts & CultureBeyond Baroque Foundation: $71,500 · Arts & CultureMIZNA: $70,220 · Arts & CultureO MIAMI INC: $64,550 · Arts & CultureChapter 510 Ink: $60,000 · Arts & CulturePOETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $57,450 · Arts & Culture+27 more: $433,394 · Arts & Culture+27 moreCAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC: $234,340 · EducationCAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INCURBAN WORD NYC INC: $154,670 · EducationURBAN WORD NYC INCUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $82,900 · EducationUniversity of Notre Dame du…ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $53,870 · EducationARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FO…University of Arizona Foundation: $53,500 · EducationUniversity of Arizona Found…826 National Inc: $50,000 · Education826 National IncJAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $37,500 · Education+7 more: $105,000 · Education+7 moreTHE FENNELLY-FRANKLIN CORP: $50,000 · OtherTHE FENNELLY-FRANKLIN…BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: $50,000 · OtherBOARD OF REGENTS OF T…TWIN POETS: $50,000 · OtherTWIN POETSCOFFEE HOUSE PRESS INC: $50,000 · OtherCOFFEE HOUSE PRESS IN…TINA CHANG LLC: $50,000 · OtherTINA CHANG LLCAmerican Literary Translators Association: $50,000 · OtherAmerican Literary Tra…KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: $45,100 · OtherKENT STATE UNIVERSITYALICE JAMES POETRY COOPERATIVE: $40,000 · OtherALICE JAMES POETRY CO…UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: $26,650 · Other+18 more: $197,400 · Other+18 moreYOUTH SPEAKS INC: $95,220 · Youth DevelopmentPongo Publishing Inc: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentSOUTHERN WORD INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentYOUTHWORKS: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER MANCHESTER: $7,000 · Youth DevelopmentFUSION PARTNERSHIP INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementLA UNION DEL PUEBLO ENTERO: $10,000 · Community ImprovementHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterWords Without Borders Inc: $8,000 · InternationalHAVEN VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND SUPPORT SERVICES: $7,500 · Human Services
Arts & Culture$1,626,924Education$771,780Other$609,150Youth Development$172,220Community Improvement$20,000Housing & Shelter$10,000International$8,000Human Services$7,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWOODLAND PATTERN INC: $292,860 over 5y, 8.7% of budgetCAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC: $234,340 over 6y, 12% of budgetURBAN WORD NYC INC: $154,670 over 6y, 7.6% of budgetKUNDIMAN INC: $152,390 over 5y, 7.4% of budgetSplit This Rock Inc: $99,120 over 4y, 15% of budgetYOUTH SPEAKS INC: $95,220 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetMASSPOETRY INC: $85,420 over 5y, 6.5% of budgetCOPPER CANYON PRESS: $85,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $82,900 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetZOEGLOSSIA INC: $79,520 over 5y, 27% of budgetLAMBDA LITERARY FOUNDATION: $75,500 over 3y, 6.5% of budgetBeyond Baroque Foundation: $71,500 over 4y, 6.8% of budgetMIZNA: $70,220 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetO MIAMI INC: $64,550 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetChapter 510 Ink: $60,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetPOETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $57,450 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $53,870 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $53,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASIAN AMERICAN WRITERS WORKSHOP INC: $50,500 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetCOFFEE HOUSE PRESS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budget826 National Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetAmerican Literary Translators Association: $50,000 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetPongo Publishing Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetALICE JAMES POETRY COOPERATIVE: $40,000 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetJAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $37,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetYUBA SUTTER REGIONAL ARTS COUNCIL: $32,500 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetNuyorican Poets Cafe Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetBrooklyn Book Festival Inc: $25,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetJUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER INC: $25,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetNEBRASKA WRITERS COLLECTIVE: $25,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetWordplay Cincy: $25,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetBOWERY ARTS AND SCIENCE LTD: $24,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetPOETS HOUSE INC: $23,450 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INC: $22,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSOUTHERN WORD INC: $20,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetThe Watering Hole Poetry Organization: $17,500 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetBOA EDITIONS LTD: $17,500 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetBucknell University: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity of Writers: $15,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetTHE POETRY PROJECT LTD: $14,400 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetTEACHERS & WRITERS COLLABORATIVE INC: $12,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetYOUTHWORKS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENT: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHUMANITIES WASHINGTON: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE LOFT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAspect Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetKENTUCKY PUBLIC RADIO INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Poetry FoundationHawthornden FoundationNational Book Foundat…Just Buffalo Literary…Lannan FoundationJerome Foundation IncCalifornia HumanitiesThe Andrew W Mellon F…The Ford FoundationFederation of State H…Geraldine R Dodge Fou…Youth Speaks Inc
The Poetry FoundationIL95.9× affinity46 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Poetry Foundation · Hawthornden Foundation · National Book Foundation Inc · Just Buffalo Literary Center Inc · Lannan Foundation · Jerome Foundation Inc · California Humanities · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Federation of State Humanities Councils · Geraldine R Dodge Foundation Inc · Youth Speaks Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Academy of American Poets Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Academy of American Poets Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Florida Humanities Council Inc: 100% of income from government
  • CityLit Project Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Aspect Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Fusion Partnership Inc: 3% of income from government
  • O Miami Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 90 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Academy of American Poets’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home