New York · Nonprofit
ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC
ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC (New York) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,685,437 to it, the largest being CARL LESNOR FAMILY FOUNDATION ($447,000). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 35
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $1.1M
What Archipelago Books Inc does
Mission
Archipelago books is a not-for-profit press devoted to publishing outstanding translations of vital works of classic and contemporary world literature. In our twenty-one years, we have brought out more than two hundred twenty-five books from more than forty languages.artistic exchange between cultures is a crucial aspect of global understanding. It has never been more important for voices from around the world to be heard in this country-our place in the world depends upon it. Sadly, less than three percent of new literature published in the united states originates outside the anglosphere. By publishing diverse and innovative literary translations, we are doing what we can to change this lamentable circumstance and to broaden the american literary landscape.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Archipelago books published fifteen titles over the course of 2025. In february, we brought out felix nesi's debut novel, people from oetimu, translated from indonesian by lara norgaard, followed by the harmattan winds by sylvain trudel, translated from french by donald winkler in march, and stay with me, our fifth title by hanne orstavik, translated from norwegian by martin aitken. In april we published wickerwork, a collection of poetry by christian lehnert, translated from german by richard sieburth, and in may we published the living and the rest by jose eduardo agualusa, translated from portuguese by daniel hahn, followed by gerbrand bakker's the hairdresser's son, translated from dutch by david colmer in august. In the fall, we brought out emmelie prophete's novel cece, translated from french by aidan rooney, a poetry collection titled say fire by selma asotic (bosnia), and two classic italian works-cesare pavese's the leucothea dialogues, translated by minna zallman proctor and luigi pirandello's one, none, and a hundred grand, translated by sean wilsey, followed by wieslaw mysliwski's needle's eye, translated from polish by bill johnston. With elsewhere editions, our…
$590,810 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $590,810.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $1.0M to $1.2M (+18%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 20% · 2018 18% · 2019 17% · 2020 19% · 2021 24% · 2022 15% · 2023 16% · 2024 11% · 2025 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 16 funders, grant income rose $103k → $263k.
6 of 35 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 35 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 51% · 2018 74% · 2019 42% · 2020 31% · 2021 30% · 2022 38% · 2023 25% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
59% of ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
51% of ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $203k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $420k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$420k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC?
- ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC (New York) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,685,437 to it, the largest being CARL LESNOR FAMILY FOUNDATION ($447,000). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC have?
- IRS filings report 35 organizations giving $1,685,437 in grants to ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC, 23 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC?
- CARL LESNOR FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $447,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ARCHIPELAGO BOOKS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Archipelago Books →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 35 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing