California · Nonprofit
POETS IN NEED
POETS IN NEED (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $128,000 to it, the largest being LEAVES OF GRASS FUND ($72,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $25k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $128k
- Net assets
- $530k
What Poets in Need does
Mission
Provide emergency assistance to poets who have an established presence in the literary community as innovators in the field and a substantive body of published work. Assistance is given only in cases of current financial need that is in excess of the poet's normal situation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
In 2025 Poets in Need provided emergency financial aid to 18 contemporary poets. The total amount of these grants was 42,400 the size of the grants depended on the need of the applicant. Poets in Need received donations from 122 individuals and organizations.
$42,426 spentof which $42,400 as grants$23,483 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $42,426.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2023 to 2024, from $633k to $553k (−13%).
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: 2017 73% · 2018 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of POETS IN NEED’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (95% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 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 held at 2 funders, grant income fell $35k → $25k.
From the IRS filings of POETS IN NEED’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
POETS IN NEED leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 57% · 2018 100% · 2019 56% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 88% · 2023 80% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
Where its funders are
POETS IN NEED draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
POETS IN NEED holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 4,748 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,748 philanthropy nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like POETS IN NEED
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
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 POETS IN NEED: 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 POETS IN NEED?
- POETS IN NEED (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $128,000 to it, the largest being LEAVES OF GRASS FUND ($72,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does POETS IN NEED have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $128,000 in grants to POETS IN NEED, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of POETS IN NEED?
- LEAVES OF GRASS FUND is the largest funder on record, with $72,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like POETS IN NEED find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Poets in Need →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 3 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