Iowa · Nonprofit
CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION
CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,625,017 to it, the largest being THE HALL-PERRINE FOUNDATION ($900,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.6M
- Funders on record
- 27
- Grants received
- $2.6M
- Net assets
- $8.5M
What Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation does
Mission
The foundation mobilizes resources and relationships that empower our library to deliver innovative programs and services.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Westside library capital - see line 4a.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
In 2022, the cedar rapids public library trustees requested the foundation to conduct a $10,000,000 capital campaign known as the inspiring big dreams campaign to build a new westside library. In 2025, the foundation made a promise to give to the trustees of $10,000,000 over four years in support of the new westside library. The expense and grant payable were recognized in 2025 at the present value using a discount rate of 4.03%.
$8,975,251 spentof which $8,975,251 as grants78% of program spendingThe library foundation continues to support our library staff year-round with continuing education and professional development opportunities. The library foundation uses storytelling to raise awareness of library programs and services through newsletter publications and brochures shared at speaking events.the foundation also transferred ownership of 15 acres of land to the cedar rapids public library and city of cedar rapids. This land was purchased in august 2022 in anticipation of the new westside library facility's construction. The foundation leveraged funds from the nadine e. Sandberg estate to acquire the property.
$2,110,787 spentof which $2,102,000 as grants18% of program spendingThe Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation supported our library's efforts to promote access, literacy, and inclusion for all ages. Dolly parton's imagination library entered its seventh year of sending free, age-appropriate books to children under 5 in cedar rapids. As of june 30, 2025, we have mailed more than 449,770 books to children in cedar rapids, and more than 8,349 have graduated from the program.our library's partnership with cargill entered its 34th year and continues to fund outreach programs for preschools serving at-risk children. During the 2024-25 school year, library staff provided six classroom visits per month (54 visits throughout the year) reaching a total of 156 preschoolers ages two to five. They also delivered 1,404 books along with customized activity sheets for each book.
$211,492 spentof which $143,069 as grants2% of program spendingAn innovative addition to the library's programs and outreach in 2021 was a mobile technology lab (mtl). In fy25, the mtl continued offering tech to go programs throughout the community. The van made 46 park visits across 17 unique locations and served more than 5,000 people. Additionally, the library's mtl conducted 26 outreach visits and led 72 total programs throughout cedar rapids.our library's intergenerational reading program was rebranded as the summer reading challenge in 2024. This summer (2025), there were 2,242 readers registered and collectively, these registrants read more than 2.6 million minutes in june and july. For the interactive, in-person component, library staff hosted 409 programs with attendance of more than 18,000 people.
$26,018 spentof which $17,600 as grants0% of program spendingIn 2024, it became apparent that the downtown library's 4th avenue outdoor plaza was in need of repair. The permeable pavers used during construction had not withstood iowa's winters, and its uneven surface was becoming more difficult to traverse for our mobility-compromised patrons and community members. The library trustee's building committee sought design bids, and in fall 2025, the 4th avenue plaza was renovated with long-term, public use in mind.
$200,000 spentof which $200,000 as grants2% of program spendingThe Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation continues to support our library's efforts to provide access to robust materials through their print and online collections.in 2022, the library asked the foundation to fund pressreader. This digital resource offers unlimited access to over 7,000 of the world's top newspapers and magazines. Supporting access and inclusion, this resource offers publications from countries around the world. Titles our patrons can access include the guardian, los angeles times, newsweek, daily mail, l'equipe, der taggesspiegel, liberation, china daily, and larazon, along with thousands of others. In fy25, 292 unique users viewed more than 32,981 items. The languages accessed include english, spanish, french, chinese, italian, and portuguese.
$52,825 spentof which $35,735 as grants0% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $11,576,373.
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 2022 to 2023, from $9.4M to $13M (+43%).
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.
63% of CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% 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.
Chief executive
Charity Tyler
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $104k → $270k.
6 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION’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
CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 60%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
32% 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 CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 64% · 2018 46% · 2019 62% · 2020 28% · 2021 48% · 2022 44% · 2023 28% — 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
58% of CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
81% of CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Iowa funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $777k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION
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 Iowa
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
97% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
57%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Big Dreams LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: 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 CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,625,017 to it, the largest being THE HALL-PERRINE FOUNDATION ($900,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $2,625,017 in grants to CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- THE HALL-PERRINE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $900,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Iowa. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 27 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