Skip to content

Maine · Nonprofit

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor (Maine) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $591,145 to it, the largest being HEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY ($182,750). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$257k
Funders on record
25
Grants received
$591k
Net assets
$609k
17/25 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 48%
01What it does

What Literacy Volunteers of Bangor does

Mission

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor (LVB) helps Bangor area adults who want to work on basic English skills or to learn English as another language. Since 1969, we have helped change the lives of adults, one at a time. During July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024, LVB orchestrated the efforts of 173 volunteers (most of whom are tutors) who gave more than 10,000 hours of service. These efforts helped 168 adults attain the following goals: get a job/better job (27), enter education/training (16), improve employability skills (58), greater community involvement (29) and/or other personal goals (101).

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Basic Literacy Program helps adults with literacy barriers reach their personal and educational goals as they relate to improved reading, writing and spelling. In fiscal year ending June 30,2025, 48 adults benefited.

    $179,255 spent
    100% of program spending
  2. English Language Program helps immigrants or "New Mainers" gain conversational English skills so that they can more fully function in our community. Additionally, tutors serve as "cultural brokers" to explain the nuances of American culture and help them prepare for the U.S. Citizenship Exam. In fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, 157 adults benefited.

  3. Family Literacy Program includes programming for those adults who are parenting children. Literate parents are better positioned to care for their children in home, work, school and health care environments. In fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, 91 parenting adults and approximately 205 children ages 0-12 years were served.

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $179,255.

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 ($134k) Expenses 100 ($126k) Net assets 100 ($133k)2018 Revenue 139 ($187k) Expenses 104 ($131k) Net assets 146 ($194k)2019 Revenue 112 ($150k) Expenses 120 ($152k) Net assets 148 ($196k)2020 Revenue 160 ($214k) Expenses 127 ($161k) Net assets 190 ($253k)2021 Revenue 139 ($186k) Expenses 121 ($153k) Net assets 274 ($365k)2022 Revenue 155 ($208k) Expenses 134 ($169k) Net assets 282 ($375k)2023 Revenue 148 ($198k) Expenses 129 ($162k) Net assets 320 ($425k)2024 Revenue 209 ($280k) Expenses 153 ($193k) Net assets 406 ($540k)2025 Revenue 192 ($257k) Expenses 174 ($220k) Net assets 458 ($609k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (192)Expenses (174)Net assets (458)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 2023 to 2024, from $426k to $540k (+27%).

$137k
$199k
$200k
$279k
$369k
$383k
$426k
$540k
$615k
'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

97% of Literacy Volunteers of Bangor’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (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. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$8k
’17
$56k
’18
−$2k
’19
$53k
’20
$33k
’21
$39k
’22
$35k
’23
$87k
’24
$37k
’25
33
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.

Chief executive

May Marin Taylor

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

2020202220242025
Listed12101213
Joined···+4
No longer listed···3
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $39k → $96k.

4 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 Volunteers of Bangor’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

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.

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

52% 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 Volunteers of Bangor.

31%
largest funder
65%
top three
~6
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 42% · 2019 57% · 2020 31% · 2021 36% · 2022 29% · 2023 26% — 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 Literacy Volunteers of Bangor's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

59% of Literacy Volunteers of Bangor's grant income comes from Maine funders.

ME
NY
MA
OH
MD
DE
TN
FL

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Maine out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $89k 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

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin14% · above the median
Months of reserve33.2mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)9% · above the median

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

Organizations like Literacy Volunteers of Bangor

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 Maine

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

81% of spending goes to programs.

Program 81%Management 8%Fundraising 11%

Governance

12
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

99%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

ME

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Literacy Volunteers of Bangor: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 Volunteers of Bangor?
Literacy Volunteers of Bangor (Maine) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $591,145 to it, the largest being HEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY ($182,750). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Literacy Volunteers of Bangor have?
IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $591,145 in grants to Literacy Volunteers of Bangor, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Literacy Volunteers of Bangor?
HEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY is the largest funder on record, with $182,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Literacy Volunteers of Bangor find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maine. 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 Volunteers of Bangor →

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 25 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