irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2024
What they reported doing
- #1 primary $152KANNUAL AWARDSEACH YEAR, THE POETRY SOCIETY OFFERS MORE THAN A DOZEN AWARDS TO HONOR AND SUPPORT POETS AT EVERY STAGE OF THEIR CAREERS, RANGING FROM AN AWARD FOR A STUDENT POET TO BEST FIRST BOOK TO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN POETRY. RECIPIENTS OF THE POETRY SOCIETY'S MOST DISTINGUISHED AWARD, THE FROST MEDAL, HAVE INCLUDED GWENDOLYN BROOKS, WALLACE STEVENS, MARIANNE MOORE, JOHN ASHBERY, AND LUCILLE CLIFTON. RECIPIENTS OF THE FOUR QUARTETS PRIZE FOR BEST POETRY SEQUENCE HAVE INCLUDED DANTE MICHEAUX, DANEZ SMITH, AND JOHN MURILLO. EACH YEAR, THE POETRY SOCIETY ALSO AWARDS TWO CHAPBOOK FELLOWSHIPS, WHICH INCLUDE A PRIZE OF $1,000 AND THE PUBLICATION OF THEIR FIRST CHAPBOOK, ALONG WITH MENTORSHIP BY AN ESTABLISHED POET IN THE EDITORIAL AND PUBLICATION PROCESS.
- #2 $196KPOETRY AND PUBLIC SPACESINCE 1992, THE POETRY SOCIETY HAS PRESENTED POETRY IN MOTION, WHICH PLACES POEMS IN TRANSIT SYSTEMS AROUND THE COUNTRY, CREATING UNEXPECTED AND MEANINGFUL ENCOUNTERS IN PUBLIC SPACES BETWEEN POEMS AND MILLIONS OF READERS. IN 2021, THE PROGRAM EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE WASHINGTON DC AREA METRO SYSTEM AND PATH/PORT AUTHORITY STATIONS IN NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK. THE PROGRAM SERVES APPROXIMATELY 9 MILLION PEOPLE EACH YEAR. POETRY IN MOTION IS NOW THE CORNERSTONE OF A LARGER ARRAY OF PROGRAMS IN PUBLIC SPACE, INCLUDING PARTNERSHIPS WITH CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS TO PRESENT POETRY-BASED PUBLIC ART PROJECTS. IN 2022, THE POETRY SOCIETY PARTNERED WITH THE DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN PARTNERSHIP TO PRESET SEEING INTO TOMORROW, WHICH TRANSFORMED POEMS BY RICHARD WRIGHT INTO LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATIONS ON WALLS IN SEVERAL BROOKLYN NEIGHBORHOODS. IN APRIL 2023, THE POETRY SOCIETY LAUNCHED PARK POEMS, A PARTNERSHIP WITH NYC PARKS TO PLACE POEMS IN FIVE PUBLIC PARKS, ONE IN EACH BOROUGH. IN 2024, PARK POEMS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE PARTNERSHIPS WITH NEW YORK STATE PARKS, THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, AND THE BROOKLYN BOTANICAL GARDEN. IN 2025, THE POETRY SOCIETY LAUNCHED THE POEM DISTRICT, WITH POEMS INSTALLED ON WALLS AND WINDOWS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SURROUNDING ITS BROOKLYN STOREFRONT SPACE. FINALLY, THIS PROGRAM AREA ALSO INCLUDES POEMS ON WHEELS, A PARTNERSHIP WITH MEALS ON WHEELS CHAPTERS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO PROVIDE POEMS ALONG WITH NOURISHING MEALS TO HOMEBOUND SENIORS.
named programs · 5 · from sources
What they call their work
Annual Awards Program
Administers over a dozen awards annually, including the Frost Medal for lifetime achievement, the Four Quartets Prize, and chapbook fellowships, supporting poets at all career stages.
Park Poems
Partners with NYC Parks and other park systems to install poetry in public parks, one in each borough initially, later expanding to state and national parks.
Poems on Wheels
Partners with Meals on Wheels chapters nationwide to include poems with meals delivered to homebound seniors, combining literary engagement with social service.
Poetry in Motion
Places poems in transit systems across the United States, including subways and commuter rail, to create unexpected encounters with poetry for millions of riders annually.
The Poem District
Transforms neighborhoods around the Poetry Society’s Brooklyn storefront into an open-air anthology with poems installed on walls, windows, and public spaces in collaboration with local businesses and civic organizations.
activities · 6 groups
What they do
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Curated Art Exhibitions and Public Displays 2 activities
- Create large-scale public art installations featuring poetryProduces hand-painted and vinyl poetry installations on walls, windows, and public structures, including the Seeing into Tomorrow project featuring poems by Richard Wright in Brooklyn (2022) and The Poem District initiative (2025) in the neighborhood surrounding its Brooklyn storefront.
- Install poetry in public parks and outdoor spacesInstalls curated poems in public parks and outdoor areas across New York City and beyond, including installations in Brooklyn, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Madison Square Park, and in partnership with New York State Parks, the National Park Service, and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Projects include multilingual poems with English translations and original commissioned works.
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Literary Publishing and Support Programs 1 activity
- Administer annual poetry awards and prizesAdministers more than a dozen annual poetry prizes that recognize poets at all career stages, including the Frost Medal for lifetime achievement and the Four Quartets Prize for the best unified sequence of poems. The organization also offers recognition to student poets and publishers through its award programs.
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Home-Delivered Meals for Seniors and Homebound 1 activity
- Distribute poems to homebound seniors via meal deliveryOperates the Poems on Wheels program, which delivers printed poems alongside food trays and emergency food boxes to homebound seniors through partnerships with Meals on Wheels chapters nationwide. Expanded to reach over 40,000 seniors across six U.S. cities.
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Artist Support Grants 1 activity
- Fund poetry prizes and fellowshipsProvides monetary awards and publication support to emerging and established poets through grantmaking initiatives, including $20,000 to the winner and $1,000 to each of two finalists of the Four Quartets Prize, and two annual Chapbook Fellowships that include $1,000 prizes, publication as chapbooks, and mentorship.
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Literary Events & Workshops 1 activity
- Provide poetry resources and informationOffers information about poetry contests, residencies, conferences, bookstores, and organizations that promote poetry, and provides free contest entry and exclusive events to members.
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Uncategorized 2 activities
- Place poetry in public transit systemsOperates the Poetry in Motion program, which places poems in public transit systems across multiple U.S. cities—including New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville, Providence, and San Francisco—reaching approximately 9 million people annually through subway cars, buses, and transit displays. Selects and displays eight poems annually on New York City Transit subways, two per quarter.
- Publish anthologies of public poetry programsCo-published three anthologies compiling poems from the Poetry in Motion program: '100 Poems from the Buses and Subways' (1996), 'From Coast to Coast' (2002), and 'The Best of Poetry in Motion' (2017).
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$1.19M
Contributions & grants$838K70%
Program service revenue$67K6%
Investment income$279K23%
Other revenue$8K
expenses
Total expenses$897K
Program expenses66%
Admin / overhead24%
Fundraising9%
Salaries & benefits$447K
Grants paid out$95K
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$6.61M
Cash$271K
Investments$881K
Liabilities$423K
Net assets$6.18M
Liquid reserves15.4 mo
6 years on record · 2019–2024 · YoY revenue +47.6%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 1
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| MATT BROGAN | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | 40 | $144K |
board members · 20
- ABIGAIL WENDER — SECRETARY
- CATHERINE WOODARD — PRESIDENT
- CORNELIUS EADY — DIRECTOR
- ELISE PASCHEN — DIRECTOR
- ELLEN RACHLIN — TREASURER
- GARY ELLIS — VICE PRESIDENT
- HELEN KLEIN ROSS — DIRECTOR
- HOWARD ROTHMAN — DIRECTOR
- INDIRA GORIS — DIRECTOR
- JACQUELINE WOODSON — VICE PRESIDENT
- JANE OTTO — DIRECTOR
- KATE GALE — DIRECTOR
- KIM BENDHEIM — DIRECTOR
- MAJOR JACKSON — FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
- MARTHA KING — DIRECTOR
- MICHAEL A BOYD — DIRECTOR
- PETER G SMITH — DIRECTOR
- PETER ROSE — DIRECTOR
- STEPHEN SYZPULSKI — DIRECTOR
- VICTORIA CHANG — DIRECTOR
relationships · 23
Who they work with
- BOA Editions Partner — Partner organization granting permission for poem reprints
- Brooklyn Botanical Garden Partner — Partnered to include poetry installations at the garden as part of the Park Poems expansion.
- Citymeals on Wheels Partner — Partner organization collaborating with PSA to deliver poems to homebound seniors in New York.
- Citymeals on Wheels Partner — Partnership to deliver poems alongside food trays and emergency food boxes to homebound seniors in New York.
- Dawn Lundy Martin Partner — Selected winners and finalists for the 2026 Chapbook Fellowships as a judge.
- Destina Foundation Funder — Supports the Poem District project.
- Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Partner — Partnered to present "Seeing into Tomorrow," transforming poems by Richard Wright into large-scale public installations in Brooklyn neighborhoods.
- Foundations, publishers, government agencies, and programming partners Funder — Support the PSA through funding and collaborative programming
- MTA Arts & Design Partner — Collaborates with the Poetry Society of America to select and present poetry in New York City subways under the revived Poetry in Motion program.
- MTA New York City Transit Partner — Co-launched and co-manages the Poetry in Motion program; joint holder of the program's registered trademark.
- Madison Square Park Conservancy Partner — Collaborated with the Poetry Society of America to create a public art exhibition combining poetry with horticultural plantings in Madison Square Park.
- Meals on Wheels Partner — Partners with local Meals on Wheels chapters nationwide to distribute poems along with meals to homebound seniors through the Poems on Wheels program.
- NYC Parks Partner — Collaborated with the Poetry Society of America to launch the Park Poems program, placing poetry installations in public parks across New York City.
- NYC Parks Partner — Partnered to launch Park Poems, placing poems in one public park in each of New York City’s five boroughs.
- National Park Service Partner — Partnered to expand Park Poems into national park sites.
- Nela Visual Partner — Co-installer of the poetry installations in the Poem District project.
- New York City Department of Small Business Services Government — Funder of the Poem District through the Public Realm Grant program.
- New York State Parks Partner — Partnered to expand Park Poems into state park locations.
- Other Means Partner — Brooklyn graphic design studio that designed the Poem District installations.
- Robyn Schiff Partner — Selected winners and finalists for the 2026 Chapbook Fellowships as a judge.
- T. S. Eliot Foundation Partner — Co-sponsors the Four Quartets Prize with the Poetry Society of America.
- The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Partner — Partnered with the Poetry Society of America on the Community in Verse installation, bringing contemporary poems into Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
- Van Zee Sign Co Partner — Responsible for installing the poetry signs in the Poem District project.
strategies · 3
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Amplification of Marginalized and Emerging Voicesmethodology: amplification_of_emerging_voicesBy publishing and presenting poetry in multilingual formats and through accessible chapbook publications, we increase visibility for emerging and linguistically diverse poets, because lowering linguistic and institutional barriers fosters inclusion and broadens poetry’s cultural reach.
- Cultural Care Integrationmethodology: culture-in-careBy delivering poetry alongside meals and care services to isolated seniors, we provide emotional and cultural enrichment, because combining literary arts with essential services meets holistic human needs and combats social isolation through meaningful engagement.
- Public Space as Civic Poetry Platformmethodology: public-space-engagementBy integrating poetry into everyday public spaces like transit systems, parks, and care settings, we make poetry accessible to diverse audiences and deepen public engagement, because environmental exposure removes barriers to access and connects poetry with daily life and social issues.