Oregon · Nonprofit
LITERARY ARTS INC
LITERARY ARTS INC (Oregon) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,029,760 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($4,242,410). 57 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 51% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.7M
- Funders on record
- 74
- Grants received
- $14M
- Net assets
- $24M
What Literary Arts Inc does
Mission
Our mission is to engage readers, support writers, and inspire the next generation with great literature.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
See form 990, part iii, line 4d - literary arts' bookstore and cafe
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Portland arts & lectures brings the world's most celebrated writers, artists, and thinkers to our community and presents them in the 2,776 seat arlene schnitzer concert hall. In addition to events, the program connects readers and writers of all ages with classroom visits and workshops from our visiting writers.the archive project radio show and podcast features the most sought-after recordings from our portland arts & lectures series , portland book festival, and other community events. Each week, new lectures are available to stream for free. Episodes also air every sunday at 7:00pm (pacific) on opb radio
$1,026,903 spent$985,811 earned by the program35% of program spendingPortland book festival brings writers and readers of all ages together to celebrate a shared passion for books in our largest single day event in the organization's calendar. In 2024, it featured over 100 writers across 8 stages with over 6,000 in attendance.
$633,358 spent$145,500 earned by the program21% of program spendingYouth programs inspire our city's youth to find their stories and play an active role in the broader community. We provide opportunities for high school students to use their voice through creative writing, q&as with authors, student readings, and spoken word performance. Much of our work prioritizes underserved communities, and we strive to make our programs as equitable as possible.
$472,822 spentof which $4,097 as grants$42,620 earned by the program16% of program spendingLiterary arts' bookstore and cafe offer a place for readers and writers of all ages to connect with each other and discover new and exciting books. The store hosts as many as three free events a week featuring author events and readings on all subjects and for all ages.
$301,186 spent$86,875 earned by the program10% of program spendingOregon book awards & fellowships provide financial support and recognition to published and emerging writers across our state. The program also creates connections with oregon's readers and writers through free community programming, including the oregon book awards author tour.
$300,485 spentof which $79,500 as grants$19,075 earned by the program10% of program spendingClasses and workshops offer opportunities for writers at all levels to hone their craft and build community through intimate classes focused on specific goals. Delve seminars invite readers to explore challenging books and engage in lively, discussion-based seminars led by scholars, teachers, writers, poets, and artists from the portland community.
$220,021 spent$189,292 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,954,775.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
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 $6.8M to $14M (+113%).
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: 2020 3% · 2021 9% · 2022 9% · 2023 4% · 2024 21% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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
Brian Andrew Proctor
Executive director
Board chair
Amy Donohue
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 16 funders to 36 funders, grant income rose $307k → $1.9M.
12 of 74 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 51% 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 LITERARY ARTS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 74 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
LITERARY ARTS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 30% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
57% 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 LITERARY ARTS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 23% · 2019 20% · 2020 25% · 2021 84% · 2022 29% · 2023 29% — 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
54% of LITERARY ARTS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 77% 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
51% of LITERARY ARTS INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $6.9M that is directly attributable, 52% of it comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.
Government funding LITERARY ARTS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.4M on record — $820k federal, $1.5M state.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$500k
- National Endowment for the Arts$320k
- DISTRIBUTION TO FOR-PROFIT SUBRECIPIENT$993k
- DISTRIBUTION TO NON-PROFIT ORG$518k
- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NON-IT$20k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like 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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
58% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
84%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- La 716 LLC · partnership
- La 716 Managing Member Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen 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 LITERARY ARTS INC?
- LITERARY ARTS INC (Oregon) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,029,760 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($4,242,410). 57 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 51% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does LITERARY ARTS INC have?
- IRS filings report 74 organizations giving $14,029,760 in grants to LITERARY ARTS INC, 57 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LITERARY ARTS INC?
- THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,242,410 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LITERARY ARTS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 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 2020–2025), and the filings of 74 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