South Carolina · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY (South Carolina) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $68,800 to it, the largest being Spartanburg County Foundation ($50,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $69k
- Net assets
- $172k
What Friends of the Spartanburg County Public Library does
Mission
The organization exists to foster a closer relationship between the spartanburg county public library system and the community it serves; to promote informed public awareness of the library system's resources, programs, and needs; to support the library system through gifts, endowments, and contributions; to assist in the development of expanded and improved library services and facilities for spartanburg county; and to advocate for the library system's continued growth and sustainability.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The organization provides direct financial support to the spartanburg county public library system ("library system") in furtherance of its mission to enhance and expand library services and facilities available to the spartanburg county community. During the fiscal year, the organization made grants and allocations to the library system totaling $1,309,038.the most significant activity during the year was the acquisition and donation of the 2nd spartan regiment battle flag, a revolutionary war-era artifact with direct historical significance to spartanburg, south carolina. The library system's board of trustees voted to contribute $1,200,000 to the organization specifically to fund this acquisition. The friends' board of directors separately voted to authorize the purchase, with the library system's director recused from that vote due to his institutional affiliation, and designated the county librarian as its authorized signing representative solely for purposes of executing the purchase agreement. The organization purchased the flag from its private owners and immediately donated it to the library system for permanent public display, consistent with the american revolution…
$1,321,564 spentof which $1,309,038 as grants98% of program spendingThe organization produces and distributes a quarterly newsletter to the spartanburg community. The newsletter highlights library system programs, upcoming events, new services, branch news, and community resources available throughout spartanburg county's library locations. Total expenses for newsletter production and distribution during the fiscal year were $7,148.
$7,148 spent1% of program spendingThe organization operates pages on pine, a used book store located in spartanburg, south carolina, which serves as the organization's primary revenue-generating activity in support of its exempt mission. The store sells books, media, and other materials consisting entirely of donations from the public and discards from the library system's collection, all acquired at no cost to the organization. The store facility is provided by the library system at no charge, which keeps operating overhead minimal and maximizes the portion of revenue available for grantmaking and program support.the store conducts ongoing sales throughout the year as well as quarterly sales events open to the general public. Members of the organization receive one-day early access to each quarterly sale as a membership benefit, along with periodic mailings about library system programs and events. Revenue from store operations, supplemented by membership dues and general public donations, funds the grants and program activities described in line 4a above and the newsletter described in line 4b.during the fiscal year, pages on pine generated $138,349 in program service revenue against $23,317 in direct operating…
$23,317 spent$138,349 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,352,029.
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.
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 $275k to $69k (−75%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $100 → $600.
1 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 73% 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 SPARTANBURG COUNTY 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 SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
73% 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 SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 91% · 2023 83% — 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
73% of FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY 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 $19k that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from South Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $50k 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.
Organizations like FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY 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 South Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Spartanburg County Public Libraries · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY 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 SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY?
- FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY (South Carolina) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $68,800 to it, the largest being Spartanburg County Foundation ($50,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $68,800 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY?
- Spartanburg County Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $50,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE SPARTANBURG COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. 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 6 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