Bat City Comic Professionals
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- Only 33% of its spending went to programs.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
Bat City Comic Professionals is a non-profit organization that works to produce resources and classes for students, parents, teachers, and life-long learners through comics education, art, and writing showcases, book donations, and comic restoration.
- Income
- $176,572
- Spending
- $157,808
- Spent on programs
- 33%
- Reserves
- 2.4 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- other income, 80%
- Employees
- 1
- Volunteers
- 10
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 60 out of 100. Higher than 24% of charities in its peer group (education, under $250k).
Reserves
10 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 2.4 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 11% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 14% on the year before.
Spending floor
0 of 1533% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Fair: 54 out of 100. Higher than 38% of charities in its peer group (education, under $250k).
Independent board
18 of 253 of 3 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
0 of 15Reports no written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no 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 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 (4)
- $3,550 spent. Books for Schools - Bat City Comic Professionals uses proceeds from our gross sales of product to provide books to teachers and librarians at the elementary through college level. These books include single-issue comic books, trade paperback collections, original graphic novels, early readers, and novels. All books that we donate are brand new and come with supplemental resources for educators, including themed curriculum, reader follow-up questions, conversation starters, writing prompts, etc. Books are delivered to or picked up by educators so that we can ensure that books contain relevant subject matters and themes, age-appropriate reading levels, and preferred titles for teachers. Resources for this program are also made available on our website with monthly themes and book suggestions to make it accessible to others who are too far to travel to our location and vice versa.
- $30,605 spent. Writing and Art Educational Opportunities - Bat City Comic Professionals offers comic creation workshops to area schools, libraries, and to local residents (in our on-site classroom). In these workshops, students learn the writing process through the construction of comic books and their scripts. Students are able to grasp complex writing elements and mechanisms in an easier to digest format in order to better tell the story they desire. Students also learn the skills needed to draw their stories in sequential form using the basics of artistic expression and figure drawing, as well as learning comic-specific techniques like paneling, guttering, and lettering. In 2022, we expanded the program to the Girl Scouts of Central Texas and the Suncoast of Florida, as well as the Cub and Boy Scouts. In these workshops, Scouts are able to earn a badge by creating a comic story through our workbooks. We also hosted local artists and comic publishing companies to do portfolio review and development classes for advanced artists in our community who wanted to learn where they could improve their technique and build on already developed skills. In this workshops, participants were able to bring already existing work to be evaluated or work to learn skills from someone who is currently employed as a professional comic creator or publisher. We also hosted several in-conversations with local comic creators about how they create, market, and develop their work. Through this, we were able to offer a new artist a chance to create an exclusive comic cover for an upcoming title helping them receive a professional credit for their resume, and stock they could sell as they grew their business. In 2024, we added onto these programs by adding our SLAM (Story, Lettering, Art, and Marketing Academy). Using our in-house created curriculum, we created a writing, art, and business intensive summer program for kids and teens who wanted to expand their skills at a college level. In 2025, we expanded this once again to include creator services and professional development for adult creators who would like to pursue a career in comic creation or design.
- $13,365 spent. Books for Kids/Story Spelunkers program- In addition to providing books to area schools and libraries, Bat City Comic Professionals also works to incentivize and encourage reading in young people by providing them with a free single-issue comic book every time they come into Bat City. Bat City also creates events to spark a love for reading in young people such as Superhero Storytime (featuring both adult and young readers), Story Spelunkers Book Club (rewarding accomplishments and completion in reading activities), and free comic days where community members can come receive free books, play games, and hear booktalks about titles they may like in a variety of genres. We also worked with area schools and in-store for booktalks and creating content that helped young people discover new books that would be of interest to them and help them find a space in books that they were comfortable. In 2025, we expanded this to include family fun days that were themed around certain books and literary activities. This helped us to bring hundreds of families through the doors to learn together in new and fun ways (like partnering with the Bradenton Police Department to certify students as Literary Detectives or teaming up with the Bradenton Marauders to create a comic that we could give away to students in schools and at Kids Club themed games).
- $3,800 spent. SLAM Club at Manatee School for the Arts was our new program this year. We created a college-level course in Sequential Art and Writing for high school students that allowed them to expand their writing and art skills. 40 students participated in the course throughout the school year, meeting every other week with the goal that in the spring there would be a comic con for them to show off their work. Each student had to create art pieces, writing pieces, and/or a full book.
Source: Form 990 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 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 December 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 November 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.