Loft Inc

“Process the organization uses to review the 990 an initial draft of the 990 is reviewed in detail by the finance committee of the board. After changes or corrections, if needed, the near final draft of the 990 is distributed to the full board in pre-read material prior to the first board meeting after finance committee review. The treasurer/finance committee chair reviews the document for the board with assistance of representatives from the independent auditors, if needed. Board members are invited to ask questions and submit any further corrections. The treasurer recommends approval of the 990 (with changes, as needed) and a full vote of the board is called. The board must approve the 990 before it is submitted.”

“Conflict of interest policy each year, typically at the first meeting of the fiscal year as a 'standing agenda item,' all board members are asked to review the conflict of interest policy for the purpose of stating and/or updating their disclosures, and to sign and date the form.”

“Procedure to make decisions regarding executive and staff compensation relying in substantial part on the bi-annual survey of non-profit salaries conducted and published by the minnesota council of non-profits, the board of directors' executive committee establishes the salary for the executive director, within the limits established by the board of directors in approving the organization's budget. The executive director in turn, uses the same procedure for establishing salaries for all other staff, including the managing director.”

“Governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements the organization makes its financial statements and 990 available to the public on its website. The governing documents and conflict of interest policy are held at the organization's offices and are available upon request.”

“On march 11, 2020 the loft made the decision to shift all loft activities to online formats and all public programming has remained virtual through fiscal year 2021. The loft entered the fiscal year projecting a deficit-budget and thus took advantage of every opportunity to lower expenses and increase revenue including beginning the year with a 9-month long plan to participate in minnesota's shared work plan.this program allowed us to keep all employees at full benefits while varying their month to month employment between 100% and 50% in temporary and partial furloughs, to the extent possible based on programmatic and organizational demands. When we received a second payrcheck protection plan loan we were able to bring all staff members back to their regular hours. The ppp loan was forgiven and is accounted for as a grant. In addition, the loft took on contracted management of the open book building and organization (the separate non-profit from which the loft leases its space) in order to earn additional revenue.”

“Services for writers and the literary community - in fiscal year 2021, the organization provided a wide range of services designed to support writers and the broader literary community. Loft.org, the organization's website, provided regular articles and fostered discussions about the writers' life and craft through the writers' block blog. There, writers found writing exercises, readers found book and event recommendations and both found literary reviews, commentary, news, and discussion. The site also included interviews, a calendar of readings and events, an online catalog of classes, and resources including information about writing groups, competitions, grants, awards, publishers, and agents. Due to covid-19 and the closure of the open book to most visitors, access to the rachel anne gaschott ritchie small press library was limited to loft studio users. Thirty-three writers made use of the organization's writers' studios while the four organization-sponsored culturally distinct writing groups were unable to meet at open book, nor was the co-sponsored picture book salon. The book club room was closed to the public for the entire year. The mentor series fellowship in poetry and creative prose and the mirrors and windows fellowship were put on a one-year hiatus as these programs' largest funder invited the loft to use their grant to secure continued operations of the loft as a whole in the face of the pandemic. With the loft's commitment to addressing inequities in publishing and access to children and young adult literature written by and for people of color and indigenous people, the organization did continue to provide learning and networking opportunities to previous mirrors and window fellows. Previous mentor series fellows as well as other past award winners were also invited to a special craft talk/q & a with multiple award-winning poet, natalie diaz. Mcknight artist fellowships for writers provided five minnesota writers of demonstrated ability with grants of $25,000, buying them time to concentrate on their craft. The writers were competitively selected for awards in creative prose and middle grade children's book writing.”

“Learning for writers and readers - the organization offered a variety of learning opportunities for writers and readers during fiscal year 2021, all of them online. Adults and youth (ages 6-90+) at all levels of artistic development furthered their skills in classes focused on fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screen/playwriting, children's literature, graphic novel, and other literary forms; learned more about developing a writing practice and career; and explored literature as readers. All classes were taught by accomplished writers and literary professionals. This year, the organization served 3,132 adults and 232 youth in 355 classes and workshops, schools and community programs. Another 84 writers took advantage of manuscript review or one-on-one coaching services offered by the loft. To mitigate financial barriers to participation in creative writing learning opportunities, the organization provided 256 scholarships (valued at $37,804) in addition to working with youthprise to extend scholarships even further to low income families. We also offered a work-study program, and 70 free writing classes in partnership with eight regional library systems across the greater twin cities.”

“Events for readers - authors' book launch readings and spoken word performances helped develop audiences for literature while promoting and advancing the work of individual writers. Big ideas discussions featured writers and thought leaders using literature to spur conversations on topical issues and curated literary events engaged audience members in exploration of thought-provoking themes. Despite zoom-fatigue a combined audience of 1358 participated in 19 of these events, featuring 26 writers. In may of 2021, the loft presented the third annual wordplay literary festival, and the second to be presented completely online. Over one week, the loft showcased writers in all genres and engaged audiences in discussions of timely topics with authors and experts spurred by newly published work. By the close of the organization's fiscal year, these events had been viewed more than 12,000 times in total. With the wordplay festival, the loft is putting literature at the center of civic life, engaging participants in important, timely, and challenging conversations inspired by books while also celebrating the joy, empathy-building, and transformative power of reading and writing.”