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California · Nonprofit

HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION

HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $162,567 to it, the largest being HUMBOLDT AREA FOUNDATION ($60,485). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 51% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$506k
Funders on record
12
Grants received
$163k
Net assets
$1.6M
7/12 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 19%
01What it does

What Humboldt Library Foundation does

Mission

A strong public library system is the foundation upon which a community builds for the future. The Humboldt Library Foundation rallies support across our diverse county to enhance programs and learning opportunities in the humboldt county library system. The foundations vision is to open the world of possibilities that can be found at the local library, so that every person builds a relationship with learning and libraries that lasts a lifetime. Our mission is to raise funds and make grants to the library that are used to: improve the quality of library services countywide; expand the use of technology; sponsor cultural and educational offerings. The Humboldt Library Foundation has also established the hlf endowment fund to realize this vision and make sure that enhanced access to public library materials and services are provided for in the future. See how you can become a member of the hlf legacy circle and provide library funding in perpetuity.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. To support the humboldt county public library.

    $313,921 spentof which $255,937 as grants
    97% of program spending
  2. To support the humboldt county public library.

    $9,086 spent
    3% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $323,007.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($141k) Expenses 100 ($107k) Net assets 100 ($642k)2018 Revenue 111 ($157k) Expenses 101 ($108k) Net assets 98 ($629k)2019 Revenue 177 ($250k) Expenses 133 ($142k) Net assets 130 ($831k)2020 Revenue 131 ($186k) Expenses 176 ($189k) Net assets 145 ($928k)2021 Revenue 214 ($302k) Expenses 141 ($151k) Net assets 178 ($1.1M)2022 Revenue 144 ($204k) Expenses 194 ($208k) Net assets 152 ($976k)2023 Revenue 140 ($197k) Expenses 143 ($153k) Net assets 175 ($1.1M)2024 Revenue 207 ($293k) Expenses 174 ($186k) Net assets 204 ($1.3M)2025 Revenue 359 ($506k) Expenses 301 ($323k) Net assets 246 ($1.6M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (359)Expenses (301)Net assets (246)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $1.3M to $1.6M (+21%).

$642k
$629k
$831k
$928k
$1.1M
$976k
$1.1M
$1.3M
$1.6M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

63% of HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 24,946 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$34k
’17
$49k
’18
$108k
’19
−$3k
’20
$150k
’21
−$4k
’22
$44k
’23
$107k
’24
$183k
’25
59
months of
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed444444141314
Joined·+2+0+0+1+0+10+1+2
No longer listed·20010021
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income fell $27k → $11k.

4 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 51% 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 HUMBOLDT 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

HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

54% 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 HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION.

37%
largest funder
76%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2020 88% · 2021 84% · 2022 47% · 2023 90% — 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

50% of HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

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

51% of HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION'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 $80k that is directly attributable, 92% of it comes from California funders.

CA
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’18
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $83k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin36% · top quartile
Months of reserve58.7mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)17% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like HUMBOLDT 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 California

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

100% of spending goes to programs.

Program 100%Management 0%Fundraising 0%

Governance

13
board members
100%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention–Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

62%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HUMBOLDT 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.

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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 HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $162,567 to it, the largest being HUMBOLDT AREA FOUNDATION ($60,485). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 51% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $162,567 in grants to HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
HUMBOLDT AREA FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $60,485 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like HUMBOLDT LIBRARY FOUNDATION 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.

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 12 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