POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA

As filed

Subsection

03

NTEE code

A70

Classification

1000

Street

119 SMITH ST

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).

Mission and programs · 2024

• PUBLIC PROGRAMS:THE POETRY SOCIETY PRESENTS LIVE AND DIGITAL PROGRAMS THAT EXPLORE THE WORK OF INDIVIDUAL POETS, AS WELL AS IMPORTANT THEMES IN CONTEMPORARY POETRY. THESE INCLUDE A WIDE VARIETY OF EVENTS IN THE POETRY SOCIETY'S STOREFRONT SPACE: READINGS, LECTURES, SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, TEACHER TRAININGS, CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS, AND COMMUNITY EVENTS. THE POETRY SOCIETY'S DIGITAL PROGRAMS, WHICH INCLUDE VIDEO RECORDINGS OF LIVE EVENTS AND ONLINE SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS, AS WELL AS THE PUBLICATION OF ESSAYS, INTERVIEWS, AND ORIGINAL POEMS, SERVE HUNDREDS OF POETS AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF READERS EACH YEAR.

  Expenses $246,652 · Grants $34,210 · Revenue $40,122

• ANNUAL AWARDSEACH YEAR, THE POETRY SOCIETY OFFERS MORE THAN A DOZEN AWARDS TO HONOR AND SUPPORT POETS AT EVERY STAGE OF THEIR CAREERS, RANGING FROM AN AWARD FOR A STUDENT POET TO BEST FIRST BOOK TO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN POETRY. RECIPIENTS OF THE POETRY SOCIETY'S MOST DISTINGUISHED AWARD, THE FROST MEDAL, HAVE INCLUDED GWENDOLYN BROOKS, WALLACE STEVENS, MARIANNE MOORE, JOHN ASHBERY, AND LUCILLE CLIFTON. RECIPIENTS OF THE FOUR QUARTETS PRIZE FOR BEST POETRY SEQUENCE HAVE INCLUDED DANTE MICHEAUX, DANEZ SMITH, AND JOHN MURILLO. EACH YEAR, THE POETRY SOCIETY ALSO AWARDS TWO CHAPBOOK FELLOWSHIPS, WHICH INCLUDE A PRIZE OF $1,000 AND THE PUBLICATION OF THEIR FIRST CHAPBOOK, ALONG WITH MENTORSHIP BY AN ESTABLISHED POET IN THE EDITORIAL AND PUBLICATION PROCESS.

  Expenses $151,835 · Grants $60,850 · Revenue $35,534

• POETRY AND PUBLIC SPACESINCE 1992, THE POETRY SOCIETY HAS PRESENTED POETRY IN MOTION, WHICH PLACES POEMS IN TRANSIT SYSTEMS AROUND THE COUNTRY, CREATING UNEXPECTED AND MEANINGFUL ENCOUNTERS IN PUBLIC SPACES BETWEEN POEMS AND MILLIONS OF READERS. IN 2021, THE PROGRAM EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE WASHINGTON DC AREA METRO SYSTEM AND PATH/PORT AUTHORITY STATIONS IN NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK. THE PROGRAM SERVES APPROXIMATELY 9 MILLION PEOPLE EACH YEAR. POETRY IN MOTION IS NOW THE CORNERSTONE OF A LARGER ARRAY OF PROGRAMS IN PUBLIC SPACE, INCLUDING PARTNERSHIPS WITH CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS TO PRESENT POETRY-BASED PUBLIC ART PROJECTS. IN 2022, THE POETRY SOCIETY PARTNERED WITH THE DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN PARTNERSHIP TO PRESET SEEING INTO TOMORROW, WHICH TRANSFORMED POEMS BY RICHARD WRIGHT INTO LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATIONS ON WALLS IN SEVERAL BROOKLYN NEIGHBORHOODS. IN APRIL 2023, THE POETRY SOCIETY LAUNCHED PARK POEMS, A PARTNERSHIP WITH NYC PARKS TO PLACE POEMS IN FIVE PUBLIC PARKS, ONE IN EACH BOROUGH. IN 2024, PARK POEMS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE PARTNERSHIPS WITH NEW YORK STATE PARKS, THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, AND THE BROOKLYN BOTANICAL GARDEN. IN 2025, THE POETRY SOCIETY LAUNCHED THE POEM DISTRICT, WITH POEMS INSTALLED ON WALLS AND WINDOWS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SURROUNDING ITS BROOKLYN STOREFRONT SPACE. FINALLY, THIS PROGRAM AREA ALSO INCLUDES POEMS ON WHEELS, A PARTNERSHIP WITH MEALS ON WHEELS CHAPTERS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO PROVIDE POEMS ALONG WITH NOURISHING MEALS TO HOMEBOUND SENIORS.

  Expenses $196,195

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.

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

  $1,192,427

  Expenses

  $896,904

  Contributions

  $837,970

  Grants paid

  $95,060

• 2023

  Revenue

  $807,651

  Expenses

  $870,379

  Contributions

  $469,006

  Grants paid

  $97,750

• 2022

  Revenue

  $790,576

  Expenses

  $831,699

  Contributions

  $512,081

  Grants paid

  $66,115

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

  Revenue

  $1,187,140

  Expenses

  $722,108

  Assets (EOY)

  $4,975,099

• 2020 · 990

  Revenue

  $738,176

  Expenses

  $640,628

  Assets (EOY)

  $5,528,589

• 2019 · 990

  Revenue

  $669,762

  Expenses

  $571,048

  Assets (EOY)

  $4,422,908

• 2018 · 990

  Revenue

  $656,530

  Expenses

  $839,236

  Assets (EOY)

  $4,468,432

• 2017 · 990

  Revenue

  $641,656

  Expenses

  $634,138

  Assets (EOY)

  $4,406,767

• 2017 · 990

  Revenue

  $641,656

  Expenses

  $634,138

  Assets (EOY)

  $4,406,767

• 2016 · 990

  Revenue

  $650,561

  Expenses

  $625,054

  Assets (EOY)

  $4,195,388

• 2015 · 990

  Revenue

  $608,638

  Expenses

  $548,519

  Assets (EOY)

  $3,903,578

• 2014 · 990

  Revenue

  $596,644

  Expenses

  $492,728

  Assets (EOY)

  $4,064,192

• 2013 · 990

  Revenue

  $528,048

  Expenses

  $491,983

  Assets (EOY)

  $3,935,372

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

• GLORIS S HAFFER TRUSTEE OF NIKKI GIOVANN

  $15,000

  2024 · HONORARIUM PAYMENT FOR ANNUAL AWARDS

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $24,955

  2022 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INCORPORATED

  $21,100

  2024 · POETRY COALITION

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $15,350

  2024 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC

  $10,000

  2022 · UNRESTRICTED GENERAL SUPPORT

• MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC

  $10,000

  2024 · UNRESTRICTED GENERAL SUPPORT

• MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC

  $10,000

  2023 · UNRESTRICTED GENERAL SUPPORT

• ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS INCORPORATED

  $8,500

  2023 · CAPACITY BUILDING, POETRY COALITION FELLOWSHIP

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $7,550

  2023 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

Other IRS files