National Writing Project
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT CORPORATION SEEKS TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF WRITING AS A VOLUNTARY SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR THE CORE STAFF OF THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT, A FISCALLY SPONSORED PROJECT OF COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, THAT ENGAGES A NATIONAL GROUP OF LEADING EDUCATORS TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF WRITING AND LEARNING. INDIVIDUALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE NWP CORPORATION SEEK TO PROVIDE ADVICE, CONNECTIONS, AND FEEDBACK IN SERVICE OF CONTINUING THE TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE ESTABLISHED BY THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT AND ITS NATIONAL NETWORK OF LOCAL SITES AND LEAD TEACHERS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT AND ITS CONTINUING PROGRAM ACTIVITIES, PLEASE SEE THE STATEMENT OF PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, PART III, SECTION 4A.
- Income
- $812,076
- Spending
- $6.6 million
- Spent on programs
- 95%
- Reserves
- 0.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 68%
- Employees
- 13
- Volunteers
- 14
- Highest pay
- $559,769, exec dir./ceo (term 12/31/2023)
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Weak: 29 out of 100. Higher than 4% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
4 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 0.1 months of spending.
Debt
10 of 20It owes 38% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 717% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 81% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1595% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 14 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 70% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
18 of 253 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
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, 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)
- $6.3 million spent. NWP IS A NATIONAL NETWORK OF 162 UNIVERSITY-BASED LOCAL SITES. CO-DIRECTED BY FACULTY FROM THE UNIVERSITY AND K-12 SCHOOLS, EACH NWP SITE DEVELOPS A LEADERSHIP CADRE OF LOCAL EDUCATORS THROUGH INTENSIVE INVITATIONAL AND ADVANCED INSTITUTES. TOGETHER WITH LOCAL PARTNERS, THESE LEAD EDUCATORS DESIGN AND DELIVER CUSTOMIZED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN THE TEACHING OF WRITING AND THE ROLE OF WRITING IN LEARNING FOR SCHOOLS, DISTRICTS, HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS, AND AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS. ACROSS THE NATIONAL NETWORK, NWP SITES RECRUIT AND PREPARE ROUGHLY 2,200 NEW TEACHER-LEADERS EACH YEAR AND WORK WITH ROUGHLY 1,700 SCHOOLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND NUMEROUS INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS WHO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF NWP'S ONLINE PROGRAMMING. ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, NWP SITES GENERATE 80,000 HOURS OF INTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR DISTRICTS AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES, REACHING 6 MILLION STUDENTS PER YEAR. OVER THE 50 YEARS OF ITS DEVELOPMENT, THE NWP HAS CREATED A SIGNATURE MODEL OF INQUIRY-DRIVEN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT INCLUDES EXAMINING BEST PRACTICES, ENGAGING IN THE DISCIPLINE UNDER STUDY, DEVELOPING STRATEGIES TO MEET THE LITERACY NEEDS OF INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS, AND LEARNING FROM RESEARCH IN THE FIELD. THE STRONG NATIONAL NETWORK OF LOCAL WRITING PROJECT SITES AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE PROVIDE CONTINUING SUPPORT THAT EDUCATORS CAN DRAW UPON TO ENHANCE THEIR ABILITY TO INNOVATE AND LEAD IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS BENEFITING SCHOOLS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND THE YOUTH THEY SERVE. ADDITIONALLY, THE INVOLVEMENT OF UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND LEAD EDUCATORS IN THE NATIONAL NETWORK ENSURES THAT CONTINUING RESEARCH, EVALUATION, AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION SERVE TO KEEP NWP'S MODELS CURRENT AND RESPONSIVE. OVER FORTY YEARS OF NATIONAL RESEARCH AND EVALUATION STUDIES CONFIRM THAT NWP PROGRAMS SUPPORT TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND CONTRIBUTE TO GROWTH IN STUDENT WRITING ACHIEVEMENT AS MEASURED BY INDEPENDENT EVALUATIONS. RECENTLY, FOR EXAMPLE, SRI INTERNATIONAL HAS CONDUCTED THREE RIGOROUS EVALUATIONS OF THE IMPACTS OF THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT'S COLLEGE, CAREER, AND COMMUNITY WRITERS PROGRAM (C3WP). ALL THREE STUDIES EMPLOYED RANDOM ASSIGNMENT AND WERE DESIGNED TO MEET THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S HIGHEST STANDARDS OF RESEARCH: WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE STANDARDS WITHOUT RESERVATIONS AND ESSA TIER 1 (STRONG EVIDENCE). IN ALL THREE STUDIES, C3WP EXHIBITED A POSITIVE, STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE FOUR ATTRIBUTES OF STUDENT ARGUMENT WRITING EXAMINED: CONTENT, STRUCTURE, STANCE, AND CONVENTIONS, AS MEASURED ACROSS NEARLY 15,000 STUDENT WRITINGS BY TRAINED SCORERS USING THE ANALYTIC WRITING CONTINUUM FOR SOURCE-BASED ARGUMENT. THESE POSITIVE RESULTS REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE THREE STUDIES AND SPANNED 228 DIVERSE SCHOOLS ACROSS 20 STATES, SHOWING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NWP PROGRAMMING ACROSS MANY REGIONS AND VARIED SETTINGS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THESE NATIONAL STUDIES JOIN AN EXTENSIVE PORTFOLIO OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION STUDIES EXAMINING NWP'S IMPACT ON TEACHER PRACTICE AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP, STUDENT OUTCOMES, AND CURRICULAR IMPROVEMENT. ARSHAN, N. L., PARK, C. J., & GALLAGHER, H. A. (2019). IMPACTS ON STUDENTS OF A SHORT-CYCLE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT'S COLLEGE, CAREER, AND COMMUNITY WRITERS PROGRAM. SRI INTERNATIONAL. GALLAGHER, H. A., ARSHAN, N., & WOODWORTH, K. R. (2017). IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT'S COLLEGE-READY WRITERS PROGRAM IN HIGH-NEED RURAL DISTRICTS. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON EFFECTIVENESS IN EDUCATION, 10(3), 570-595. DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2017.1300361 PARK, C., ARSHAN, N, MILBY, A., & GOETZ, R. (2021). EVALUATION OF THE COLLEGE, CAREER, AND COMMUNITY WRITERS PROGRAM: FINDINGS FROM THE I3 SCALE-UP GRANT. TECHNICAL REPORT. SRI INTERNATIONAL.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, 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 September 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 October 1995.
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.
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