The Carl Brandon Society
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Literary and educational
- Income
- $13,027
- Spending
- $42,418
- Reserves
- 52.4 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 92%
- Highest pay
- $9,206, program director
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
We do not score finances when yearly spending is very small or the return has too little detail. The ratios stop meaning much at that size.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (9)
- Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarships awarded to talented, emerging writers of color to allow them to attend Clarion or Clarion West Writers Workshops at UC San Diego and Seattle, advancing their education in the craft and business of writing, and facilitating making professional contacts.
- $3,860 spent. Online weekend workshop, Intro to the Inactive Protagonist, taught by Vida Cruz-Borja, June 14-15, 2025. Students learned to widen the definition of character agency in fiction other than active and inactive protagonist; discovered other ways "inactive protagonists" can express their agency; and explored perspectives and approaches other than conflict and competition in fiction. Class size limit: 10. Student attendance: 5 live, 7 via video afterward
- $3,660 spent. Online weekend workshop, Cultural Storytelling: Tapping into Speculative Fiction's Revolutionary Potential, taught by Naseem Jamnia, July 19-20, 2025. Students examined how their "non-normative" experiences affect theirr understanding of "good craft" to shape stories that not only include characters who look like them, but themes, plot and emotional beats, characterization, and overall structures that better reflect the cultural traditions they come from. Student attendance: Class size limit: 10. Student attendance: 7 live, 2 via video afterward
- $3,360 spent. Online weekend workshop, How To Finish Your Novel, taught by Suyi Davies Okungbowa, November 29-30. Suyi combined principles from strategic project culture (honed during his time in a former corporate role) and the tips, tricks and techniques he has built up in his author career to deliver a pathway to starting and finishing your novel. Class size limit: 14. Student attendance: 14 live, 7 via video afterward. This was our first class to be offered as a scholarship-only class.
- $1,381 spent. Gave the 2020 Parallax Award to The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson for the long form category and "The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter" by Elaine Cuyegkeng for the short form category. Gave the 2020 Kindred Award to Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland for the long form category and "Exile's End" by Carolyn Ives Gilman for the short form category. All the winners accepted their awards, but Justina Ireland turned down the $1000 honorarium and said the society should use it where it is most needed.
- $2,083 spent. Held an in-person tea party to encourage networking for readers and writers of color and their supporters at the Seattle World Science Fiction convention, attended by about 50 people.
- $1,921 spent. Switched to an all-scholarship model for our workshops in response to tax law changes.
- $1,281 spent. Isis Asare, our Program Director, and Yasmine Fahmy, our Workshop Coordinator, surveyed the community for feedback on the workshop program
- $230 spent. Researched avenues to provide community support immediately after Altadena and Eaton fires. Donated $1,000 to Octavia's Bookshelf, a BIPoC book store that pivoted to coordinating assistance to neighborhood residents displaced by the fires.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Worth knowing.
Status was revoked on May 15, 2013 for not filing returns for three years, and reinstated on May 15, 2013.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 2017.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.