Grants for libraries

Name: Top 25 grants made to libraries
Creator: Cause IQ
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

1,229 libraries received at least $13.0 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 1,584 grants made from 1,150 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,150 foundations, 85% made just a single grant to libraries, and 2% made grants to four or more libraries. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.

$12,968,267

Total grant dollars given to libraries

1,584

Number of grants made annually to libraries

1,150

Number of grantmakers funding libraries

$1,000

Median grant size to libraries

Foundations that support libraries

Out of all grants made to libraries, 81% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 80% of the dollar-value of grants to libraries. Foundations funding libraries also made grants to historical societies, universities, food banks, high schools, and animal shelters.

Foundation size

Foundation size	Number of grantmakers
Small	933
Medium	129
Large	88

Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation type	Number of grantmakers
Community	30
Private	1,016
Corporate	58
Other	46

Grants made

Grants made to libraries	Number of grantmakers
1	978
2-3	142
4-10	27
11+	3

Top 10 foundations supporting libraries

Grantmaker	State	Geographic focus	Percent of grant dollars to libraries	Number of grants made to libraries	Median grant size
The Rhode Island Foundation	RI	Metro	0.2%	61	$1,000
Dollar General Literacy Foundation	TN	National	0.6%	57	$1,075
Abbvie Foundation	IL	National	0.0%	15	$40
Mcinroy-Sheffer People Trust Ta	NY	Metro	18.9%	10	$500
Alliant Energy Foundation	WI	State	0.3%	9	$400
Shell Oil Company Foundation	TX	National	0.0%	9	$315
Vermont Humanities Council	VT	State	10.6%	8	$5,000
The Troy Foundation	OH	Metro	0.2%	8	$707
Kurz Family Foundation	NY	Metro	0.4%	8	$1,000
Benevolent Association of Pottsville	PA	State	26.4%	7	$1,500

See all grantmaking to libraries

Libraries grantees

Libraries with more than $5 million in total revenues received 85% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 21% of all libraries.

Grant amounts

Size of grant	Number of grants
<$10k	1,582
$10k-$25k	0
$25k-$100k	0
$100k+	2

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue	Median grant size
<$100k	$1,000
$100k-$500k	$1,000
$500k-$1M	$1,000
$1M-$5M	$1,000
>$5M	$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee	Number of grants
New York	302
Pennsylvania	260
Connecticut	141
Rhode Island	91
Other	790

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee	Number of grants
New York City	203
Providence	91
Bridgeport	79
Pittsburgh	59
Other	774

Top 25 grants made to libraries

Grantee	Grant size	Purpose	Grantmaker
American Antiquarian Society (AAS)	$5,200,000	To Collect, Preserve, and Make Available for Study the Printed Record of What Is Now the United States of America From First European Settlement Through the Year 1876.	The Zande Foundation
New York Public Library (NYPL)	$5,000,000	Pledged Gift To Support the Library's Capital Campaign	MJS Foundation
American Antiquarian Society (AAS)	$5,000	Antiquarian Hall	The Albert J Gifford Charitable Trust
Camden Library Association	$5,000	Family Literacy Partner	Dollar General Literacy Foundation
Friends of the North Canton Public Library	$5,000	Exempt Purpose	Hoover W Henry Fund Ta 20-0221200
Tyrone Area Public Library	$5,000	Program Assistance	Albemarle Foundation
New York Society Library Trustees	$5,000	Educational	Marion Cohen Memorial Foundation
American Library in Paris	$5,000	General Operating Support	J M Kaplan Fund
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)	$5,000	Clinton Hill Library Programming	J M Kaplan Fund
Friends of the Jackson County Public Library	$5,000	General Support	Advisors Charitable Gift Fund
Upstate Family Resource Center	$5,000	General Support	Spartanburg County Foundation
Recording Library of West Texas	$5,000	Operating Support	The Henry Foundation
Friend Memorial Public Library	$5,000	General Operating	Johnson Robert K Foundation-Main
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP)	$5,000	Education	Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation
Hartford Public Library	$5,000	Educational Fund	TS Kim Architectural Fellowship Foundation
The Board of Trustees of the Norwalk Public Library	$5,000	Operations	The Twenty First Century Foundation
New York Public Library (NYPL)	$5,000	Annual Contribution	Blau Family Foundation / Jeff T Blau Ttee
Friends of the Philipsburg Library	$5,000	General Operating	Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana
Rochester Public Library	$5,000	Unrestricted Gift	The Riedman Foundation
Consource	$5,000	Educational Programs & Other Student SVC	Goldman Sachs Gives
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP)	$5,000	Education	The Clark Hunter Foundation
Bucks County Free Library	$5,000	Support All of the Bensalem Branch's Programs & Services	Albert W Bader Foundation
Glatfelter Memorial Library	$5,000	General Operating Support	Philadelphia Foundation (PF)
Friends of the San Francisco Public Library	$5,000	SFPL Children & Youth Literacy Programs	The William G Gilmore Foundation
The Community Library Association	$5,000	General	The Shafran Family Foundation

See all grants to libraries

Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Libraries" category for this page is determined by the "B70: Libraries, Library Science" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.