Readaloud Org
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Read Aloud 15 MINUTES' mission is to increase child readiness for school and educate parents by teaching them why reading aloud for at least 15 minutes every day, beginning at birth, matters.
- Income
- $62,040
- Spending
- $335,838
- Spent on programs
- 80%
- Reserves
- 22.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- investment income, 56%
- Employees
- 3
- Volunteers
- 3
- Highest pay
- $110,000, executive dir.
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: 70 out of 100. Higher than 37% of charities in its peer group (education, under $250k).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 22.2 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 441% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 60% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1580% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 12 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
Good: 71 out of 100. Higher than 65% of charities in its peer group (education, under $250k).
Independent board
5 of 251 of 3 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a 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.
Pay set independently
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
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 (1)
- $268,671 spent. The Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign continues to successfully focus on three pillars of activity.1. Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Awareness Campaign. The awareness campaign has been the focus of ReadAloud.org since 2012. The Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign goal is for 250 million Americans to recognize the need to read aloud 15 minutes every day, beginning at birth, ensuring that all American children are kindergarten-ready by age 5. We reached thousands of Americans this year with a very strong focus on public awareness events in South Carolina as follows:Participated in all day carnivals at Beyond Our Walls and Windwood Farm engaging all participants to read aloud from birth. Conducted weekly read-alout sessions for pre-K and kindergarten students at Charleston Development Academy and for members of Reading Buddies at Windwood Farm Boys Home.Read aloud to children at Beyond Our Walls' 6-week summer camp and holiday events, gifting books at every session.Partnered with Charleston Friends of the Library to receive, categorize and distribute books to underserved children; in 2025, at least 5,000 like-new books were gifted.Regularly distributed books to Little Free Libraries to increase community access to reading materials. Participated in the MLK, Jr. Parade, distributing books, wristbands, and prizes to children. Attended Jean's Angels Event at Danny Jones Recreation Center,distributing books and prizes to over 200 children.Read Aloud 15 MINUTES specializes in the delivery of read aloud educational content directed at parents, grandparents, caregivers, educators, and health professionals. The materials provided are directed at improving the early brain development in children from birth to age 8. Read Aloud 15 MINUTES conducts several campaign pulses annually, with March designated as Read Aloud Month. The campaign supplies educational content, such as marketing materials for social and traditional marketing channels, posters, bookmarks, worksheets, and parent handouts digitally (see https://www.readaloud.org/downloads.html) to its local, regional, and national partners. Partners are responsible for distribution to their constituents of parents, employees, customers, clients.2.The Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign encourages parent and professional engagement and behavioral change through sponsorship of the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES 21-Day Challenge primarily during March Read Aloud Month. The 21-Day Challenge is how ReadAloud.org translates the awareness of the importance of reading aloud into action. The goals are for 250,000 children and 5,000 organizations to participate in the 21-Day Challenge. We held our first 21-Day Challenge Parent Night at the Boca Grande Preschool in November 2019. 3.ReadAloud.org participates in medical, behavioral, and social research in support of better understanding the importance of reading aloud to children from birth to age 8. ReadAloud.org participates in the discussion, planning, and funding of research that furthers the understanding of brain development as it relates to reading aloud. ReadAloud.org was proud to work with Dr. John S. Hutton, MS, MD, former pediatrician and clinical researcher in the Division of General and Community Pediatrics and Reading and Literacy Discovery Center, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center in a longitudinal study demonstrating through MRI and subjective evaluation the impact of reading aloud on the brain. Business Model and Organizational StructureReadAloud.org and the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign employs a unique business model intended to minimize infrastructure expense and maximize the exposure of the three pillars of the organization through the use of partnerships with business, government, and NGOs interested in early childhood development. By partnering with local, regional, and national organizations, many of whom are focused on distribution of books, and parent and classroom education; as well as after-school programs that do not have expertise on staff for the development of extensive educational content, Read Aloud 15 MINUTES is able to provide this expertise and thus leverage resources of partners at the local, regional and national levels. All partners are encouraged to embrace co-marketing of the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES materials, again leveraging the brands of both the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign and its thousands of partners. Social media and paid advertising play a vital role in communicating our campaign messages and broadening our campaign reach. Summary of MetricsFacebook Reach11,203,880Facebook Followers 414,591Twitter Followers 11,007Instagram Followers9,156Instagram Reach53,140File Downloads14,806Website Views170,729Much work remains to be accomplished for the Campaign to achieve its goal of 250 million Americans understanding the importance of daily reading aloud starting at birth. Learn more at https://www.readaloud.org.
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 October 13, 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 October 13, 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 October 13, 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 October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since August 2021.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 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 21, 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.