Colorado · Nonprofit
IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO
IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO (Colorado) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $424,975 to it, the largest being DANIELS FUND ($155,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $425k
- Net assets
- $183k
What Imagination Library of Colorado does
Mission
In partnership with Dolly Partons Imagination Library the Imagination Library of Colorado promotes early childhood literacy in Colorado by providing access to free high-quality age-appropriate books in the home to children ages 0-5. The organization gives all young children in Colorado the opportunity to receive books in the mail at no cost to families. Our vision is a Colorado in which all young children have books in their homes develop a love of reading and learning and begin kindergarten and elementary school prepared to succeed onward.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Imagination Library of Colorado ilco focuses its efforts on the promotion of early childhood literacy for the general public. Ilcos educational program of providing books to young children all across the state of colorado increases kindergarten readiness and helps develop the character and capability of enrolled children prior to entering formal schooling through early exposure and access to high quality age-appropriate books intended to develop a foundation of basic literacy skills needed for reading and writing.
$2,577,160 spentof which $1,471 as grants$908,439 earned by the program100% of program spendingNot described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spendingNot described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,577,160.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $338k to $822k (+143%).
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: 2022 60% · 2023 78% · 2024 64%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
67% of IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO’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. 1 of the last 4 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
John Tate
President and CEO
Board chair
Josephine Metoyer
Chair of Board of Directors
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income fell $150k → $76k.
2 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO’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
IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
55% 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 IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 56% · 2023 60% — 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
99% of IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO's grant income comes from Colorado funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $27k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO has grown faster than three-quarters of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO: 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 IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO?
- IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO (Colorado) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $424,975 to it, the largest being DANIELS FUND ($155,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $424,975 in grants to IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO?
- DANIELS FUND is the largest funder on record, with $155,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like IMAGINATION LIBRARY OF COLORADO find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), 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