New York · Nonprofit
THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC
THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC (New York) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,464,838 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($11,230,334). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.1M
- Funders on record
- 79
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $14M
What The Academy of American Poets Inc does
Mission
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.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Awards and prizes:the academy administered and awarded poetry prizes to poets at all stages of their careers through various programs, including the poets laureate fellowships, the poetry fund through amazon literary partnerships, the wallace stevens award, the academy of american poets fellowship, the lenore marshall prize, the james laughlin award, the first book award, the harold morton landon translation award, the american poets emergency fund, and the treehouse climate action poetry prize. Additionally, the academy provided student prizes at hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide.poetry coalition:the academy served as the coordinator and fiscal administrator of the poetry coalition, an intentionally inclusive alliance of thirty organizations, most of which are led by working, published poets who also serve as arts administrators. Each of these organizations employs paid staff who are published poets, with a primary mission to promote poets and poetry. Many are multi-genre literary organizations that serve poets and readers of all backgrounds.
$2,409,282 spentof which $2,317,561 as grants$66,192 earned by the program56% of program spendingWebsite:launched in 1996, poets.org is the award-winning website of the academy of american poets. Visitors to poets.org will find thousands of poems, along with hundreds of poets' biographies, essays, interviews, and poetry recordings, with new materials constantly added. Additionally, the site offers resources such as a national events calendar and poetry lesson plans for teachers. With more than 17 million visits each year, poets.org is one of the most popular poetry websites on the internet.
$487,055 spent$49,893 earned by the program11% of program spendingThe american poets magazine:launched in 1996, american poets magazine is published twice annually, in april and october, exclusively for members of the academy of american poets. This magazine reaches devoted readers and writers of poetry and literature, students of poetry, some of the most renowned and respected poets of our time, and some of the nation's most generous patrons of poetry.
$184,002 spent4% of program spendingAdditional programs:other key initiatives include the poetry coalition, education programs for high school students and adult learners, national poetry month, a reading series, and a memberships program.
$1,236,878 spent$75,339 earned by the program29% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,317,217.
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 $14M to $19M (+38%).
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 5% · 2018 6% · 2019 3% · 2020 2% · 2021 4% · 2022 2% · 2023 6% · 2024 2% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
79% of THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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
Ricardo Maldonado
Executive director
Board chair
Tess O'Dwyer
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 16 funders to 29 funders, grant income rose $353k → $3.5M.
10 of 79 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 79 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
THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 68% of grant income and the top three 87%; 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 28% · 2018 90% · 2019 94% · 2020 94% · 2021 47% · 2022 75% · 2023 62% — 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.
How long its funders stay
41% of THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
86% of THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $551k 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.
Against its field
THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC's funding base is broadening — from 16 funders to 29 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $656k on record — $655k federal, $700 state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$635k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$20k
- Informational Service$700
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 THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
46%
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 THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS 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 THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC?
- THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC (New York) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,464,838 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($11,230,334). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC have?
- IRS filings report 79 organizations giving $16,464,838 in grants to THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC, 46 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $11,230,334 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 79 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