North Carolina · Nonprofit
Literacy Council of Highlands Inc
Literacy Council of Highlands Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,215,573 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC ($233,250). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $536k
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $843k
What Literacy Council of Highlands Inc does
Mission
To enrich lives and expand the knowledge of children, adults and families through diverse educational programs that advance literacy in its many forms and to promote lifelong learning, which results in an informed and empowered community.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Pre-K Program: The Literacy & Learning Center offers a free, full-day Pre-K program that provides children with a strong foundation in literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional development. The program operates during the school year and aligns with North Carolina Early Learning Standards to prepare students for kindergarten success. In the tax year, the Pre-K program served three- to five-year-old children instruction from qualified early childhood educators, as well as enrichment activities, and family support services. By eliminating financial barriers to early childhood education, the program plays a critical role in increasing school readiness and long-term academic achievement for children in our rural mountain community.
$359,798 spent100% of program spendingAfter-School and Tutoring Programs: TLLCs free after-school and tutoring programs support K-8 students through structured academic assistance, enrichment activities, and personalized one-on-one tutoring. These programs focus on improving literacy, math skills, and overall academic performance while providing a safe, supervised environment. During the year, more than 75 students participated in these programs. Services included daily homework help, reading and math intervention, STEAM-based projects, and nutritious snacks. These programs not only support working families but also help close achievement gaps, increase student confidence, and foster lifelong learning habits outside the traditional classroom setting.
Adult Programs: Literacy, ESL, and GED: The Literacy & Learning Center provides free adult education programs, including English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult Literacy, and General Education Development (GED) preparation. These programs empower adults to build essential skills for employment, citizenship, and daily living. In the tax year, dozens of adult learners participated in individualized instruction, small group classes, and virtual options to accommodate work and transportation barriers. ESL and GED learners made measurable progress in reading, writing, speaking, and testing benchmarks. These services offer life-changing opportunities to adults in our region, many of whom face economic hardship or limited formal education. By promoting literacy and credential attainment, TLLC helps individuals build a better future for themselves and their families.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $359,798.
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.
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 $329k to $673k (+104%).
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: 2018 4% · 2019 3% · 2020 4% · 2021 9% · 2022 7% · 2023 15% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of Literacy Council of Highlands Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Bonnie Potts
Executive Director
Board chair
Jane Jerry
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 18 funders, grant income rose $37k → $291k.
11 of 43 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% 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 Literacy Council of Highlands Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 funders by total. 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
Literacy Council of Highlands Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders 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 Literacy Council of Highlands Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 46% · 2019 38% · 2020 26% · 2021 33% · 2022 36% · 2023 36% — 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
43% of Literacy Council of Highlands Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
58% of Literacy Council of Highlands Inc's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $413k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
Literacy Council of Highlands Inc is better cushioned than half of the 22,838 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,838 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like Literacy Council of Highlands Inc
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 Literacy Council of Highlands Inc: 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 Literacy Council of Highlands Inc?
- Literacy Council of Highlands Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,215,573 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC ($233,250). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Literacy Council of Highlands Inc have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $1,215,573 in grants to Literacy Council of Highlands Inc, 29 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Literacy Council of Highlands Inc?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC is the largest funder on record, with $233,250 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Literacy Council of Highlands Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Literacy Council of Highlands →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 43 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing