Massachusetts · Nonprofit
BACON FREE LIBRARY
BACON FREE LIBRARY (Massachusetts) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $104,998 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($96,550). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 92% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2026
- $94k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $105k
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Bacon Free Library does
Mission
The organization maintains a free and public library for the community. In accordance with the benefactor's will and trust, the library provides popular materials, learning resources, and programming for the enjoyment and use of the public, with a particular emphasis on supporting the educational needs of children.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
The organization maintains a free and public library for the community. The organization and its predecessor trust have maintained a public and free library at the same location since 1880. The organization is responsible for the building (including furniture and fixtures and the collection) and the grounds, and some operations and programming expenses. The Town of Natick has supported some library operations since 1951. Currently, the Town employs the library director and staff, and these Town employees are responsible for library operations. The organization does not have any employees. When the Town pays wages and other expenses, such as utility bills and some of the materials and programming expenses, the Town pays those expenses directly, and does not pay them through the organization, or pay anything to the organization. Those expenses are the Town's, approved by Town meeting and processed through the Town finance function. As a result of the Town's direct payment of salaries and some expenses, the organization's program expenses shown on Form 990 are only a small fraction of total spending to operate the library. Further, the Occupancy costs shown on Form 990 appear…
$11,930 spent100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2026 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $11,930.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2025 to 2026, from $1.1M to $1.3M (+13%).
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: 2021 0% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0% · 2026 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
66% of BACON FREE LIBRARY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (65% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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.
Board chair
Richard Moon
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $400 → $8k.
2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 92% 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 BACON FREE LIBRARY’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
BACON FREE LIBRARY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 92% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
92% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BACON FREE LIBRARY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 97% · 2020 89% · 2021 95% · 2022 89% · 2023 94% — 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.
Where its funders are
92% of BACON FREE LIBRARY's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $8k that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $97k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
BACON FREE LIBRARY has grown faster than three-quarters of the 1,807 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,807 education nonprofits under $100k, FY2026
Organizations like BACON FREE LIBRARY
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
14% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
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 BACON FREE LIBRARY: 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 BACON FREE LIBRARY?
- BACON FREE LIBRARY (Massachusetts) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $104,998 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($96,550). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 92% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BACON FREE LIBRARY have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $104,998 in grants to BACON FREE LIBRARY, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BACON FREE LIBRARY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $96,550 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BACON FREE LIBRARY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Bacon Free Library →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2021–2026), and the filings of 5 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing