Arizona · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY
FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY (Arizona) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $370,297 to it, the largest being BURTON FAMILY FOUNDATION ($160,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $287k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $370k
- Net assets
- $92k
What Friends of the Phoenix Public Library does
Mission
To enhance and expand the presence of the library for the community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Membership - our membership program allows individuals and families to support the library for as little as $20.
$14,659 spentof which $2,375 as grants7% of program spendingVolunteer - our volunteer program allows individuals and families to support the library system by donating time and effort to improve the library system at no cost to the taxpayers. This is an instrumental effort in difficult economic times.
$5,061 spentof which $821 as grants3% of program spendingOur book sale programs enables individuals and families to support the public library by donating books/music/movies to be used in the library system or sold to raise money for the library system. This program also ensures literacy materials are available to the general public for little or no expense.
$181,088 spentof which $29,350 as grants$200,863 earned by the program90% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $200,808.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2018 to 2019, from $594k to $356k (−40%).
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 15% · 2022 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
30% of FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 8 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
Jason Peterson
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $52k → $19k.
3 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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 PHOENIX 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 PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
97% 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 FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 92% · 2021 51% · 2022 46% · 2023 85% — 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.
How long its funders stay
43% of FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
54% of FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC 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 $170k that is directly attributable, 94% of it comes from Arizona funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $200k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY's revenue fell 29% between 2018 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX 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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX 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 PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY?
- FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY (Arizona) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $370,297 to it, the largest being BURTON FAMILY FOUNDATION ($160,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $370,297 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY?
- BURTON FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $160,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 2018–2025), and the filings of 9 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