California · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY
FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,657 to it, the largest being THE JAMES J AND SUE FEMINO FOUNDATION ($3,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $99k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $4k
- Net assets
- $264k
What Friends of the Pasadena Public Library does
Mission
Our mission is to support the Pasadena Public Library's programs, special services and cultural events at its ten branch libraries.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
The Friends of the Pasadena Public Library received a generous bequest of $582,056 for the benefit of the San Rafael Branch Library. Of the bequest amount, $550,000 was turned over to an Agency Investment Fund with the Pasadena Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3). The Friends of the Pasadena Public Library retain a beneficial interest in the Agency Investment Fund while the Pasadena Community Foundation has legal control of the Agency Investment Fund.
$550,000 spent$582,056 earned by the program93% of program spendingWireless Hotspots for all branch libraries allow children access to learning via the internet.
$13,200 spent2% of program spendingSummer Reading Programs for children, teens and adults promote library visitations. Programs for children and teens build upon skills learned in school. We had 1335 participants this past fiscal year.
$12,675 spent2% of program spendingOther programs including author talks. We had 1,086 particpants in our Cultural Heritage programs and another 396 participants in our One City One Story programs during this past fiscal year.
$13,399 spent2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $589,274.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 $173k to $234k (+35%).
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.
73% of FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC 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. 1 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2022: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $2k → $21.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC 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
FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 82% 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
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 67% · 2020 100% · 2021 95% · 2022 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
100% of FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $157 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 17,277 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,277 education nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
85%
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 FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC 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 FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY?
- FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,657 to it, the largest being THE JAMES J AND SUE FEMINO FOUNDATION ($3,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $3,657 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY?
- THE JAMES J AND SUE FEMINO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Friends of the Pasadena Public Library →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 3 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