Kentucky · Nonprofit
KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC
KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $583,102 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC ($182,200). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $200k
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $583k
- Net assets
- $466k
What Kentucky Author Forum Inc does
Mission
Kentucky Author Forum's purpose is to engage and expose the university community and our community of large to the great authors of literature, public policy, and the humanities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Five events were staged during the 2024-2025 season which included major authors and covered diverse and significant topics. Nearly 2,800 people attended. Events were recorded for national public television distribution, podcast, and online access. The first event featured bestselling author Amor Towles discussing his collection of short stories, "Table for Two," with New York Times book critic Alexandra Jacobs. The second event included singer-songwriter and activist, Joan Baez, being interviewed about her book of poetry, "When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance", by popular radio and podcast host Diane Rehm. The third event had CNN's Chief National Security Analyst, Jim Sciutto, talking with New York Times' longtime foreign correspondent, Jane Perlez, about his book, "The Return of Great Powers." The fourth event presented author, journalist and filmmaker, Sebastian Junger, examining the near death experience covered in his book, "In My Time of Dying," with National Public Radio host Rachel Martin. The final event of the season was award-winning author Colm Toibin exploring his novel, "Long Island," with Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House.
$260,470 spent$78,794 earned by the program93% of program spendingAll staged events are recorded for national distribution via public television ("Great Conversations"), podcast ("Great Podversations"), plus posted online. National broadcasts and online access increase both the scope and inclusiveness of those served by Forums. Kentucky Educational Television is the presenting station for "Great Conversations", and makes it available to PBS affiliates nationwide. Episodes were broadcast almost 5,300 times, reaching 81% of the United States. "Great Podversations" are produced by Kentucky Author Forum and distributed by Louisville Public Media. Production began in 2020 so the Forum could continue fulfilling its mission during a time when theaters were closed due to COVID-19 precautions. These free podcasts are available globally on all major podcast apps. They were downloaded over 13,000 times.
$18,014 spent6% of program spendingKentucky Author Forum programming began in 1996 as part of a bicentennial effort of the University of Louisville. As schedules allow, authors and interviewers visit the campus. Longtime foreign correspondent and former New York Times Bureau Chief in Beijing, Jane Perlez, discussed her time in China, as well as historical and psychological aspects of its president, Xi Jinping. Ms. Perlez also talked about current U.S. relations with China and contrasted them with previous periods. Award winning journalist, author and filmmaker, Sebastian Junger, recounted his reporting during the war in Afghanistan, and his research and writing of "The Perfect Storm" plus "In My Time of Dying." Both guests answered questions from those in attendance. The events were open to the entire campus community and attendees included faculty, staff and alumni. In addition, a small dinner with Ms. Perlez allowed professors in Asian studies an opportunity to have more in depth conversations with her. Discounted tickets for the staged events in the evenings were available to the campus community. All authors and interviewers have less formal interactions with community members, educators, and civic and business…
$2,448 spent1% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $280,932.
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 2021 to 2022, from $264k to $841k (+218%).
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 15% · 2022 10% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
63% of KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income fell $65k → $50k.
2 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% 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 KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
33% 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 KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 50% · 2019 100% · 2020 42% · 2021 83% · 2022 56% · 2023 33% — 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
14% of KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
100% of KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC's grant income comes from Kentucky funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $193k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC is better cushioned than half of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM 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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
48%
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 KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM 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 KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC?
- KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $583,102 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC ($182,200). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $583,102 in grants to KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC is the largest funder on record, with $182,200 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like KENTUCKY AUTHOR FORUM INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 Kentucky Author Forum →
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 10 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing