Utah · Nonprofit
WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION
WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION (Utah) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,064 to it, the largest being THE HANDLEY FOUNDATION INC ($3,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $129k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $6k
- Net assets
- $362k
What Western Literature Association does
Mission
Founded in 1965, the Western Literature Association (wla) is a non-profit, scholarly association that promotes the study of the diverse literature and cultures of the north american west, past and present. Since its founding, the wla has served to publish scholarship and promote work in the field; it has gathered together scholars, artists, environmentalists, and community leaders who value the west's literary and cultural contributions to american and world cultures; it has recognized those who have made a major contribution to western literature and western sutdies; and it has fostered student learning and career advancement in education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
The wla's annual conference brings together writers and academics to present papers and read creative work; it fosters graduate student education and professional networking; it recognizes outstanding achievement in scholarship and creative writing, mentorship and service, through its several awards presented at the conference. The conference honors distinguished lifetime achievements; and it presents a book exhibit sponsored by western presses. The executive council also meets during the conference to discuss issues related to the association and the journal.
$123,802 spent100% of program spendingSince 1965, Western American Literature has been the leading peer-reviewed journal in the literary and cultural study of the North American West, defined broadly to include western Canada and northern Mexico.Its editor and the editorial board are constantly looking for new theoretical approaches to canonical figures as well as studies of emerging authors, filmmakers, and others who are expanding the canon of western literary and cultural production.While remaining grounded in the geography of the North American West, the journal continues to explore new approaches to literary and cultural studies more broadly, such as our groundbreaking work in ecocriticism and scholarly support for the Hispanic Literary Heritage Recovery Project. It is our desire to further this tradition of integrating western studies into global scholarly conversations.
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $123,802.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $356k to $388k (+9%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $85 → $44.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION’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
WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 70% · 2022 91% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Utah, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $314 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.
Organizations like WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION
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 Utah
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION: 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 WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION?
- WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION (Utah) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,064 to it, the largest being THE HANDLEY FOUNDATION INC ($3,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $6,064 in grants to WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION?
- THE HANDLEY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $3,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Utah. 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 Western Literature Association →
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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing