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· Public charity

Finger Lakes Library System

To stimulate, coordinate and strengthen library and information services within cayuga, cortland, seneca, tioga, and tompkins counties.

$90k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$558k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2018–2024.

Education$1.1MMembership Benefit$558kCrime & Legal$461kArts & Culture$10k
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $52k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $134k
  • $250k+1 grant · $558k
$10,993
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Tompkins County Public Librar$558,094
Cortland Free Library$25,322
Groton Public Library$23,340
Ulysses Phiomathic Library$20,514
Seneca Falls Library$14,993
Seymour Public Library Dist$14,776
Hazard Library Association$13,493
Southworth Library Assoc$10,993
Cady Library$10,742
Lamont Memorial Free Library$9,623
Phillips Free Library$8,594
Lansing Community Library$8,532
Newfield Public Library$7,993
Peck Memorial Library Assoc$6,566
Waterloo Library & Historical$5,579
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 94% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%SPRINGPORT FREE LIBRARY: $11k → 13%Waterloo Library & Historical: $28k → 14%Lamont Memorial Free Library: $10k → 15%Southworth Library Assoc: $13k → 16%Stewart B Lang Memorial Libra: $10k → 13%WATERLOO LIBRARY & HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $17k → 14%Lamont Memorial Free Library: $9k → 15%SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $12k → 16%EDITH B FORD MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF OVID NEW YORK: $24k → 14%PECK MEMORIAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $37k → 15%Southworth Library Assoc: $11k → 16%Cady Library: $11k → 11%Weedsport Free Library: $20k → 13%Waterloo Library & Historical: $15k → 14%Groton Public Library: $23k → 16%SEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT: $20k → 13%Edith B Ford Memorial Library: $9k → 14%Cortland Free Library: $25k → 15%Groton Public Library: $15k → 16%Seymour Public Library Dist: $19k → 13%Cortland Free Library: $16k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $16k → 13%CORTLAND FREE LIBRARY: $15k → 15%APALACHIN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $14k → 11%Seymour Public Library Dist: $15k → 13%Cortland Free Library: $13k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $14k → 13%Seneca Falls Library: $15k → 14%Cortland Free Library: $12k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $11k → 13%SENECA FALLS LIBRARY: $13k → 14%Cortland Free Library: $12k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $10k → 13%Cortland Free Library: $9k → 15%Port Byron Library Inc: $15k → 13%Ulysses Phiomathic Library: $21k → 16%INTERLAKEN PUBLIC LIBRARY: $16k → 14%AURORA FREE LIBRARY: $11k → 13%Interlaken Public Library: $12k → 14%Tompkins County Public Librar: $558k → 16%Lodi Whittier Library Assoc: $17k → 14%Tompkins County Public Librar: $138k → 16%LODI WHITTIER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $12k → 14%TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY: $133k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $131k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $123k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $37k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $33k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$2.0M · 26 repeat orgs$64k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +32% since the first grant, against +18% for the ones you funded once.

26 repeat relationships — 16 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
6

Total granted

$2.0M
$64k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+18%

Still filing today

88%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.” Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • SP
    SEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
    8× · 2017–2024 · $106k · revenue +30%
  • CF
    CORTLAND FREE LIBRARY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $103k · revenue +150%
  • SF
    SENECA FALLS LIBRARY
    6× · 2017–2024 · $46k · revenue +47%

Funded once

  • WF
    WEEDSPORT FREE LIBRARY
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue 0%
  • SF
    SPRINGPORT FREE LIBRARY
    one grant, 2018 · $11k · revenue +18%
  • AF
    AURORA FREE LIBRARYgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $11k · revenue +44%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Mountain Lakes Free Public Library

The mission of the Mountain Lakes Free Public Library is to provide free access to books, periodicals, magazines, audio, video, digital and internet media

Education
2
Morris Plains Library Association

Public Library providing books and computer network to the public

Education
3
Tupper Lake Public Library

The tupper lake library is a source of information for the public

Education
4
New Ipswich Library
—
5
William B Ogden Free Library

To provide library services to local area residents.

Education
6
Field Memorial Library
—
7
The Public Library of New London

The Public Library of New London is a private, not-for-profit institution that serves the needs of the New London community by providing free access to diverse ideas and information through a variety of library materials, services, and…

Education
8
Schoharie Free Library Assocation

Library Association To help patrons obtain information that meets their personal, educational and professional needs.

Education
9
Lyons Public Library

Provide library materials and services to residents of lyons, ny and the surrounding area.

Education
10
Western Pocono Community Library

Public Library open free of charge to all members of the community

—
11
Riverton Free Library Association
—
12
Suffern Free Library

Operation of a public library

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Stewart B Lang Memorial Library and the most unlike its peers is Hazard Library Association. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 41 years old; the field is 20. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number13%0%<5yr10%0%5–10yr26%10%10–20yr15%24%20–35yr13%45%35–55yr22%21%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value13%0%<5yr10%0%5–10yr26%4%10–20yr15%67%20–35yr13%15%35–55yr22%14%55yr+

The field is 13% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 3% lost their exemption, against 6% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
3%1/32
the rest of the field
6%
101/1,819

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

28 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 28 of the 32 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
20/28
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY — $1,151,986 · OtherTOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY+14 more — $299,595 · Other+14 moreSEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT — $106,036 · EducationSEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICTCORTLAND FREE LIBRARY — $102,643 · EducationCORTLAND FREE LIBRARYWATERLOO LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC — $70,725 · EducationWATERLOO LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SO…GROTON PUBLIC LIBRARY — $57,915 · EducationGROTON PUBLIC LIBRARYSENECA FALLS LIBRARY — $46,107 · EducationSENECA FALLS LIBRARYTHE SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION — $36,135 · EducationTHE SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONLansing Community Library — $30,831 · EducationPHILLIPS FREE LIBRARY — $29,495 · EducationULYSSES PHILOMATHIC LIBRARY — $27,419 · EducationApalachin Library Association — $21,346 · EducationPort Byron Library Inc — $21,196 · Education+6 more — $84,190 · Education+6 more
Other$1,451,581Education$634,038

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetSEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT — $106,036 over 8y, 1.6% of budgetCORTLAND FREE LIBRARY — $102,643 over 8y, 2.7% of budgetWATERLOO LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC — $70,725 over 5y, 5.5% of budgetGROTON PUBLIC LIBRARY — $57,915 over 5y, 7.5% of budgetSENECA FALLS LIBRARY — $46,107 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetPECK MEMORIAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC — $43,079 over 2y, 26% of budgetEdith B Ford Memorial Library — $38,062 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetTHE SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION — $36,135 over 3y, 5.4% of budgetLansing Community Library — $30,831 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetPHILLIPS FREE LIBRARY — $29,495 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetLODI WHITTIER LIBRARY — $28,985 over 2y, 11% of budgetInterlaken Public Library — $28,589 over 2y, 19% of budgetULYSSES PHILOMATHIC LIBRARY — $27,419 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetHAZARD LIBRARY ASSOCIATION — $26,411 over 2y, 14% of budgetApalachin Library Association — $21,346 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetPort Byron Library Inc — $21,196 over 2y, 12% of budgetWEEDSPORT FREE LIBRARY — $20,401 over 1y, 13% of budgetLAMONT MEMORIAL FREE LIBRARY — $18,751 over 2y, 8.1% of budgetBerkshire Free Library — $18,061 over 3y, 8.9% of budgetCandor Free Library — $16,867 over 3y, 8.3% of budgetNEWFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY — $14,921 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetSTEWART B LANG MEMORIAL LIBRARY — $14,796 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetWAVERLY FREE LIBRARY — $11,421 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetAURORA FREE LIBRARY — $11,418 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetCoburn Free Library — $7,928 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetPOWERS LIBRARY — $6,418 over 1y, 4.6% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …Nelson B Delavan Foun…Tioga County Senior C…Ralph R Wilkins Found…Legacy Foundation of …Central New York Comm…Dollar General Litera…Ibm International Fou…Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation of Tompkins County IncNY53.3× affinity23 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Tompkins County Inc · Nelson B Delavan Found Part a Xxxxx9000 · Tioga County Senior Citizens Foundation · Ralph R Wilkins Foundation Inc · Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County · Central New York Community Foundation Inc · Dollar General Literacy Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Finger Lakes Library System funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending — grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Finger Lakes Library System?

    Find your warmest path to Finger Lakes Library System through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 32 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home