Governor's Early Literacy Foundation
Governor's Early Literacy Foundation reported $22.6 million in revenue and $15.7 million in expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Of every $100 it spent, $87.55 went to program services, $5.32 to management and general costs and $7.13 to fundraising. Its largest source of revenue was contributions and grants: 77.8% of the total. Government grants made up 74.4%. The highest compensation it reported for one person was $273,371 (PRESIDENT). 3 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation. Revenue rose 159% between FY2020 and FY2025. Source: Form 990, FY2025.
Where $100 of spending went
The fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 · Form 990, Part IX, line 25 · total expenses $16MFor context, the median across 5,499 covered education charities: $85.56 programs, $13.59 management, $0.85 fundraising (medians computed separately, so they may not sum to $100).
Where $100 of revenue came from
The fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 · Form 990, Part VIII · total revenue $23MThe 990 scorecard · same measures for every charity, no grades
| Measure | FY2025 | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Program services Part IX 25(B) ÷ 25(A) | 87.5% | 84.4% |
| Management & general Part IX 25(C) ÷ 25(A) | 5.3% | 13.4% |
| Fundraising Part IX 25(D) ÷ 25(A) | 7.1% | 0.8% |
| Fundraising cost per $1 of contributions Part IX 25(D) ÷ Part VIII 1h | $0.06 | $0.04 |
| Contributions & grants share of revenue Part VIII 1h ÷ 12 | 77.8% | 19.1% |
| Government grants share of revenue Part VIII 1e ÷ 12 | 74.4% | 1.1% |
| Program service revenue share Part VIII 2g ÷ 12 | 0.0% | 69.9% |
| Highest reported compensation Part VII-A, columns D–F | $273,371 | $331,578 |
| Highest compensation as share of expenses Part VII-A ÷ Part IX 25(A) | 1.75% | 1.28% |
| People paid over $100,000 Part VII, line 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Net assets, in months of expenses Part X 33(B) ÷ monthly expenses | 17.7 | 13.3 |
| Independent voting board members Part VI 1a–1b | 14 of 14 | 100.0% |
A median is context, not a target: hospitals, universities, food banks and grantmakers spend in very different ways. What these measures can and can't tell you.
What the money paid for, in its own words
FY2025 · Form 990, Part III · the three largest programs by expenseBook delivery, through dolly parton's imagination library: through our birth-5 book delivery program, we deliver books each month to children from birth to age five, through dolly parton's imagination library, to foster a love of reading at an early age. This program is a gift of up to 60 high-quality, age appropriate books, to build a child's home library before kindergarton. Dolly parton's imagination library is available to all age-eligible tennessee children through a unique public-private partnership with gelf and affiliated programs in each of tennessee's 95 counties. With vital…
Through our storybook trail program, gelf collaborates with tennessee state parks conservancy and local parks to create outdoor reading experience where families interact through literacy and physical activity. This program presents a children's storybook on child-height panels along a short trail to promote adult-child interaction around books and nature. Each panel features a reading tip to encourage family engagement by bringing the book to life for children. Gelf's storybook trail program now include 76 trails in 52 tennessee counties
Summer: through our growing k-3 home library program, gelf delivers quality books and literacy resources to combat summer learning loss and suport student learning in the home. In collaboration with scholastic education, this program mails a pack of high-quality books to elementary students and teachers during the summer, at no cost to families or school districts. Since it's launch in summer 2020, the k-3 home library program has quickly grown to become one of gelf's key programs, and the first statewide k-3 book delivery effort in the U.S in 2021. Since the inception of gelf's k-3 summer…
Highest reported compensation
FY2025 · Form 990, Part VII, Section A · roles as filed; names are in the filing, not here| Role | From this org | From related orgs | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRESIDENT Officer, 37.50 hrs/week | $220,654 | $0 | $52,717 | $273,371 |
| VICE PRESIDENT Officer, 37.50 hrs/week | $169,887 | $0 | $35,592 | $205,479 |
| DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Highest compensated employee, 37.50 hrs/week | $104,784 | $0 | $29,777 | $134,561 |
| CFO Officer, 37.50 hrs/week | $94,289 | $0 | $29,777 | $124,066 |
3 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation from Governor's Early Literacy Foundation (Part VII, line 2). Compensation of current officers, directors and key employees totaled $590K (Part IX, line 5).
6 years of filings
Form 990, Parts I, VII, IX and X · each row is that year's own filing, linkedGovernance answers, as filed
FY2025 · the organization's own yes/no answers; explanations, if any, are in Schedule O of the filing · what each means- Voting board members, and how many are independent Part VI, lines 1a–1b14 · 14 independent
- Audited financial statements Part XII 2bYes
- Conflict-of-interest policy Part VI 12aYes
- Whistleblower policy Part VI 13Yes
- Document retention policy Part VI 14No
- Independent process for top executive pay Part VI 15aYes
- Board given the 990 before filing Part VI 11aYes
- Family or business ties among insiders Part VI 2No
- Aware of a significant diversion of assets Part VI 5No
- Excess benefit transaction with an insider Part IV 25aNo
- Loans to or from insiders outstanding Part IV 26No
- Lobbying, or a 501(h) election in effect Part IV 4No
- Over $15,000 of professional fundraising services Part IV 18No
- Over $10,000 of activity outside the U.S. Part IV 14bNo
- Employees Part I, line 520
- Volunteers Part I, line 6400
Private foundation grants it received
7 private foundations reported grants to Governor's Early Literacy Foundation totaling $115K on their tax year 2023 Form 990-PF returns. See which foundations, on WHOFUNDS.
Source: WHOFUNDS open grant graph, matched from Form 990-PF Part XV.
Correct a figure or respond
Every number above is copied from Governor's Early Literacy Foundation's own Form 990. If one doesn't match the filing, that's our error and we'll fix it. If you work for Governor's Early Literacy Foundation, you can publish a response that is linked from this page.
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Of every $100 Governor's Early Literacy Foundation spent in FY2025, $87.55 went to programs. The full breakdown, from its IRS Form 990:
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Similar-sized charities in this cause
- Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine ResidencyAugusta, ME · revenue $23M · programs 87.2% · FY2025
- Tarleton State University FoundationStephenville, TX · revenue $23M · programs 79.9% · FY2025
- Allen UniversityColumbia, SC · revenue $23M · programs 70.4% · FY2025
- United Charter High SchoolsNew York, NY · revenue $23M · programs 77.7% · FY2025
- York Preparatory AcademyRock Hill, SC · revenue $23M · programs 72.6% · FY2025
Questions people ask
How much of Governor's Early Literacy Foundation's spending goes to programs?
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, Governor's Early Literacy Foundation reported that 87.5% of its $15.7 million in expenses went to program services, 5.3% to management and general and 7.1% to fundraising (Form 990, Part IX).
How much does Governor's Early Literacy Foundation pay its top executive?
The largest total compensation Governor's Early Literacy Foundation reported for one person in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 was $273,371, for the role of PRESIDENT (Form 990, Part VII, including compensation from related organizations and other compensation).
Where does Governor's Early Literacy Foundation get its money?
Of $22.6 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, 77.8% came from contributions and grants (including 74.4% from government grants) and 0.0% from program service revenue (Form 990, Part VIII).
Is Governor's Early Literacy Foundation a registered charity?
The IRS lists EIN 20-1115704 as a 501(c)(3) organization (publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(a)(vi))), and its records show contributions as tax-deductible. Form 990 filings on record here cover tax years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. A filing shows what the organization reported; it doesn't by itself show whether a program works.
Sources
- FY2025: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, object 202611319349305706 · read the filing · XML
- FY2024: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, object 202541189349302064 · read the filing
- FY2023: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, object 202401369349303745 · read the filing
- FY2022: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, object 202321329349308927 · read the filing
- FY2021: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, object 202211369349304126 · read the filing
- FY2020: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, object 202111279349301826 · read the filing
All filings for EIN 20-1115704: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Figures are as the organization reported them; we have not audited them.