Caxton Club
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
PROVIDE FOR THE PROMOTION AND STUDY OF THE ARTS AND TECHNOLOGIES PERTAINING TO THE PRINTED BOOK AND RELATED TEXTUAL OBJECTS SUCH AS ARTISTS' BOOKS, BROADSIDES, EPHEMERA, MANUSCRIPTS, MAPS AND PAMPHLETS.
- Income
- $138,156
- Spending
- $171,133
- Spent on programs
- 81%
- Reserves
- 34.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 75%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 25
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 85 out of 100.
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 34.8 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 24% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 17% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1581% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 3 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 90 out of 100.
Independent board
25 of 2521 of 21 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 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 (3)
- $38,187 spent. The Club offers members only 6 journals printed and mailed annually. Members also have exclusive use of our website membership portal, which provides digital access to all journals printed since inception of the program in 1993, complete with indexes to enhance searchability by topic and speaker. The membership portal also includes past Club publications and keepsakes, and access to all past recorded video programming. Caxtonian Collects, another membership benefit, allows member only to share items in their collection with the public, but only members are permitted to submit entries. Portions of the membership programming efforts are underwritten by dues collected from members, with the balance supported by donations or the over 500 hours of volunteer labor needed to support these efforts.
- $15,961 spent. The Club supported scholarships, awards, and grants to foster the next generation of book scholars. This support included $8,500 in scholarships given to Rare Book School and the Bibliographic Society of America. Additionally, $5,280 and individual gifts were given to those completing work in the book arts. The Club supported awards given to young book collectors through programs sponsored by others, ie Honey and Wax Prize, Kim Brooker Book Collecting Prize, and more.
- $84,243 spent. Caxton Club organized and produced or cosponsored 30 cultural programs focused on the book. These programs were free and open to the public. 10 were live to members and nonmembers with all others virtually recorded, allowing all participants, regardless of location or membership status, the opportunity to enjoy these programs and participate in Q&A. The Club supports a separate website, Caxtonian.org, which allows the public to view all but the 4 most recent years of the Caxtonian on-line to make our scholarship broadly available. Further Caxton Club archiving efforts-which include digital and paper copies of all Caxtonian issues, all publications and printed matter, and all video recordings-are publicly available at the Newberry. The Club maintains this archive and the server space necessary to make this possible.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 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? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
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 June 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 January 1946.
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.