North Carolina · Nonprofit
CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC
CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $312,305 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($112,444). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $483k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $312k
- Net assets
- $322k
What Charlotte Center for Literary Arts Inc does
Mission
Charlotte Lit's mission is to celebrate the literary arts by educating and engaging writers and readers through classes, conversations, and community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
LABS. Charlotte Lit's labs are year-long immersions that combine classes, coaching, and a supportive cohort community. Authors Lab is for writers working on a novel or memoir. Chapbook Lab is for poets building a collection. Publishing Lab is for past Authors Lab writers who are working to get their books and other writing published. Writers in each cohort attend craft classes as a group, receive individual coaching and feedback on their writing, and experience extensive support from their peer group. Authors Lab had 18 writers in the 2025 cohort; Chapbook Lab had 10; Publishing Lab had 15. All Lab programs are fee-based with scholarships available.
$104,555 spent$115,471 earned by the program67% of program spendingCLASSES. Charlotte Lit provides more than 100 classes per year, half of them free. Three-quarters are targeted to writers who wish to improve their craft or learn about the business side of being a writer, with another quarter targeted to anyone who appreciates literature or wants to explore their world through literature. Weekly, Charlotte Lit offers a free writing session called Pen to Paper, which draws more than 1000 people annually, mostly from the Charlotte region but also nationwide.
$14,765 spent$30,980 earned by the program9% of program spendingPUBLISHING. Charlotte Lit Press published the fifth issue (Spring 2025) of "Litmosphere: Journal of Charlotte Lit" online, with 32 contributors. Charlotte Lit Press also publishes poetry collections: in 2025, three chapbooks by local writers and a full collection by poet Lola Haskins.
$17,421 spentof which $15,000 as grants$4,134 earned by the program11% of program spendingOTHER. Charlotte Lit hosts a variety of literary arts programming, most of it free and open to the public. These include Community Conversations, author readings, a Writers in Residence program, and social events. Program expenses in this category include direct expenses for the category, plus general expenses that cannot be attributed directly to one of the other listed programs.
$19,739 spentof which $10,000 as grants$895 earned by the program13% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $156,480.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $207k to $324k (+57%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 19% · 2022 21% · 2023 18% · 2024 14% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
68% of CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Paul Reali
Co-founder, Executive Director
Board chair
Kathryn Collins
Co-founder, Board Chair, Creative Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $11k → $58k.
4 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 40% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 10 of 11 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
67% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 100% · 2019 60% · 2020 33% · 2021 57% · 2022 44% · 2023 47% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
100% of CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
67% of CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $126k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
42% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC?
- CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $312,305 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($112,444). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $312,305 in grants to CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC?
- FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS is the largest funder on record, with $112,444 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Charlotte Center for Literary Arts →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 11 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing