The Reading League
Sharing Knowledge, Inspiring Change
The Reading League
EIN: 81-0820021
as of September 2023
as of September 18, 2023
Mission
The Reading League is a nonprofit organization with the mission to advance the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction.
Notes from the nonprofit
We believe that all children deserve to learn to read, and all teachers can learn to teach them. The Reading League is a national education nonprofit led by educators and reading experts dedicated to promoting knowledge that will accelerate the global movement toward evidence-aligned reading instruction. We train and support educators and school leaders, and by extension, we also serve parents, specialists, and researchers. We believe in a future where a collective focus on applying the science of reading through teacher and leader preparation, classroom application, and community engagement will elevate and transform every community, and every nation, through the power of literacy.
Ruling year
2016
CEO and President
Dr Maria Murray
Main address
103 Wyoming St 2nd Floor
Syracuse, NY 13204 USA
EIN
81-0820021
Education
Population served
Children and youth
Families
Teachers
NTEE code
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (B01)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Educator Professional Development
Provide educators access to professional development based on evidence aligned practices for reading instruction.
The Reading League has ongoing professional development through school-based partnerships with over sixty school districts. We work with schools to design learning plans that suit their needs, calendars, and budgets. Formats may include face-to-face and virtual professional development sessions, book club facilitation, virtual coaching, and regular strategic meetings with instructional leaders.
The Reading League also offers Online Academy. which provides online classes, called Knowledge Blocks, allow educators to select their own learning paths about evidence-aligned literacy instruction. Knowledge Blocks are 2.5-hour interactive learning sessions in an intimate virtual setting, each with a maximum of 25 participants. These classes provide a unique opportunity to interact with our expert instructors and network with other participants.
The Reading League's Reading Buddies TM
The Reading League’s Reading Buddies is an engaging foundational television series, based on the science of reading, that cleverly teaches underlying components of skillful word reading such as phonological awareness, letter names, letter sounds, and blending sounds to decode words.
The show features a hilarious talking dog named Dusty who, with the help of his best human friend Dott, is learning a new trick – how to read! They are joined by a kazoo-talking, robot assistant named Alphabott, and an adorable cast of human Alphabotteers. Together, they form an after-school reading club where Dusty explores letters and their sounds, social-emotional learning, and whatever else sparks his curiosity or desire for snacks! Each episode features a new “Alphabadge” for Dusty to earn, marking the progress of his reading journey. Together, along with the viewers, they are the “Reading Buddies!”
The Reading League's Events
The Reading League's Annual Conference is the largest event. Our multi-day conference aims to provide educators, researchers, and other stakeholders with a deeper understanding of the science of reading and its implications for teaching and learning. The 2023 conference features over 40 breakout sessions, two keynote speakers, Emily Hanford and Kareem Weaver, and more than 30 vendors. The 2021 and 2020 conferences are available virtually
The Reading League hosted its first-ever Summit in March 2023. Summits bring together specialists, researchers, practitioners, and neuroscientists for audiences to hear panel discussions on concentrated concepts like English Learners/Emergent Bilinguals.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2021 info
1.29
Months of cash in 2021 info
20.8
Fringe rate in 2021 info
17%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
The Reading League
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
This snapshot of The Reading League’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $22,062 | $1,013,557 | $323,371 | $665,925 |
| As % of expenses | 6.5% | 51.6% | 17.5% | 31.5% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $22,062 | $978,766 | $253,043 | $545,802 |
| As % of expenses | 6.5% | 48.9% | 13.2% | 24.4% |
| Revenue composition info | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $351,757 | $2,979,601 | $2,169,026 | $2,782,702 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 0.0% | 747.1% | -27.2% | 28.3% |
| Program services revenue | 37.9% | 24.0% | 50.5% | 65.9% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.1% | 5.9% |
| All other grants and contributions | 31.2% | 75.2% | 43.1% | 27.3% |
| Other revenue | 30.9% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 0.7% |
| Expense composition info | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $340,872 | $1,966,044 | $1,845,545 | $2,116,162 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 0.0% | 476.8% | -6.1% | 14.7% |
| Personnel | 9.7% | 40.4% | 60.1% | 59.6% |
| Professional fees | 54.5% | 22.9% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| Occupancy | 0.0% | 1.6% | 2.9% | 2.7% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other expenses | 35.7% | 35.1% | 30.2% | 27.3% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $340,872 | $2,000,835 | $1,915,873 | $2,236,285 |
| One month of savings | $28,406 | $163,837 | $153,795 | $176,347 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $0 | $680,983 | $0 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $369,278 | $2,845,655 | $2,069,668 | $2,412,632 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 11.2 | 2.9 | 4.7 | 20.8 |
| Months of cash and investments | 71.7 | 6.8 | 13.7 | 21.3 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 1.9 | 2.4 | 4.6 | 7.2 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $318,135 | $472,551 | $727,566 | $3,661,266 |
| Investments | $1,718,878 | $645,634 | $1,377,034 | $92,363 |
| Receivables | $0 | $54,762 | $138,593 | $189,320 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $0 | $680,983 | $680,983 | $731,948 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 0.0% | 5.1% | 15.4% | 24.1% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 97.4% | 44.9% | 56.6% | 61.9% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $52,842 | $1,031,608 | $1,284,651 | $1,830,453 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | $110 | $725 |
| Total net assets | $52,842 | $1,031,608 | $1,284,761 | $1,831,178 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
CEO and President
Dr Maria Murray
Founder and CEO/President of The Reading League, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to advance the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction. Prior to founding The Reading League, Dr. Murray was an associate professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, where she taught courses related to literacy assessment and intervention for ten years. She received her Ph.D. in Reading Education from Syracuse University, where she served as project coordinator for Dr. Benita Blachman’s numerous federally-funded early reading intervention grants. Dr. Murray is passionate regarding the prevention and remediation of reading difficulty and consistently strives to increase educator knowledge and the connections between research and practice.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
The Reading League
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
The Reading League
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
The Reading League
Board of directorsas of 08/22/2023
Board of directors data
Ms. Joreen Finn
West Genesee School District
Christine Castiglia
Consultant
Jill Ryan
Ryan & Ryan, CPAs
Eiman Abdulrahman
Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Children's National Health System
Mitchell Brookins
Leading Educators
Antonio Fierro
95 Percent Group
Maria Mastriano
Pillinger, Miller, Tarallo, LLP
Linda Milosky
Syracuse University
Justin Morcelle
The Adcom Group
Patrick Radel
Getnick, Livingston, Atkinson & Priore, LLP
Larry Salamino
Dental Arts Group
Amy Siracusano
National Literacy Consultant
Michelle Storie
SUNY Oswego
Deborah Stuck
Westfall Associates
Desmond Williams
Nylinka School Solutions
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/22/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Contractors
Fiscal year endingGuideStar Pro Reports
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- Contractor and/or Paid Preparer data for 2021, 2020, 2019
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