Skip to content
Nonprofiteer
← All organizations

DRAMATISTS LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

EIN 27-0999829 NEW YORK, NY

Browse the largest nonprofits in New York

Revenue 2024
$25,677
Expenses 2024
$99,110

Program services were 56.4% of total expenses calculated — Part III's total program service expenses over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
R99
Classification
1000
Street
1501 BROADWAY

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Other organizations at this address

2 other organizations in the IRS Business Master File list the same street address. matched by us

We match the street line and ZIP code as the IRS gives them, ignoring case and outer spaces and nothing else, so "AVE" and "AVENUE" count as different streets and this list can miss some. A shared address can mean related organizations or a shared office, but it can also be a registered agent, a mail drop or a service provider holding mail for unrelated clients. It is not, by itself, evidence that two organizations are connected.

Mission and programs · 2024

Primary exempt purpose

TO SUPPORT DRAMATIC AUTHORS FACING LEGAL CHALLENGES ARISING FROM THEIR WORK, HELP THEM PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE WORK, EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON MATTERS RELATED TO A WRITER'S COPYRIGHTS, ADVOCATE FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN CONNECTION WITH STAGE PRODUCTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND FIND PRO BONO LEGAL SERVICES FOR WRITERS OF LIMITED MEANS.

  • PROTECTION OF PROGRESS OF USEFUL ARTS AND ADVANCEMENT OF MATTERS HAVING GENERAL PUBLIC IMPORT WITH RELATION TO STAGE AUTHORS RIGHTS TO THEIR RESPECTIVE WRITING.

    Expenses $55,924

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • John Weidman

    PRESIDENT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Rick Pappas

    VICE PRESIDENT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Ralph Sevush

    TREASURER/SECRETARY

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Laurence Sorkin

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Jt Rogers

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Cheryl Davis

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Emily Mann

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Robert Schenkkan

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Howard Sherman

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Lydia Diamond

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Raul Esparza

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Mara Isaacs

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $25,677
    Expenses
    $99,110
    Contributions
    $25,677
    Grants paid
    not reported
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $39,535
    Expenses
    $31,339
    Contributions
    $39,535
    Grants paid
    not reported
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $28,075
    Expenses
    $38,840
    Contributions
    $28,075
    Grants paid
    not reported

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $42,050
    Expenses
    $37,585
    Assets (EOY)
    $110,350
  • 2020 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $20,800
    Expenses
    $19,777
    Assets (EOY)
    $105,885
  • 2019 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $24,010
    Expenses
    $24,256
    Assets (EOY)
    $104,862
  • 2018 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $23,330
    Expenses
    $24,936
    Assets (EOY)
    $105,108
  • 2017 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $45,224
    Expenses
    $62,835
    Assets (EOY)
    $112,537
  • 2016 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $88,521
    Expenses
    $53,153
    Assets (EOY)
    $125,202
  • 2015 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $27,145
    Expenses
    $38,820
    Assets (EOY)
    $88,957
  • 2014 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $5,255
    Expenses
    $38,428
    Assets (EOY)
    $106,164
  • 2013 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $3,835
    Expenses
    $18,480
    Assets (EOY)
    $133,805
  • 2012 · 990-EZ

    Revenue
    $3,835
    Expenses
    $22,404
    Assets (EOY)
    $148,450

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

Related organizations

From Schedule R Part II, where a filer lists the tax-exempt organizations it is related to by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

Declared as related by

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

  • Exemption revoked 15 February 2012, reinstated 15 February 2012.

Publication 78

Listed as of 11 November 2026, under deductibility SOUNK.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 9 November 2026 and read 9 November 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.