New Jersey · Nonprofit
MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC
MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $792,917 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($152,585). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $631k
- Funders on record
- 37
- Grants received
- $793k
- Net assets
- $1.4M
What Montclair Free Public Library Foundation Inc does
Mission
To develop philanthropic support for the montclair free public library. To increase funding for library programs, collection enhancement, augmented services, capital projects, and other critical needs that exceed municipal funding.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The foundation provides support for programs such as summer reading, story times, community celebrations, literacy initiatives, and the open book / open mind cultural series. More than 190,000 visits to the montclair public library took place in 2025, and the foundation supports programs and services that benefit the whole community. While municipal funding provides for basic library services (staffing, utilities, building maintenance, etc.), the foundation supports programming and special projects that make our public library truly unique. From early childhood literacy to programs for seniors, the foundation helps expand the library's reach and provides needed services to the people in our community.
$406,318 spentof which $287,589 as grants$444,795 earned by the program100% of program spendingThe foundation supports the library of things, allowing library patrons to borrow items such as tools, board games, and musical instruments. Funding from the foundation enables the library to offer expanded access to digital resources such as hoopla and kanopy as well as research tools like the ebsco bundle, free to all library card holders.
$100 earned by the programThe foundation funds special projects, such as the etuk bookmobile, which brings a library experience to all corners of our community. The bookmobile can be found at schools, senior centers, summer camps, and community events, expanding access and raising awareness about the resources and programs of the library. The foundation also funds the museum pass program, making visits to over a dozen museums available to patrons at no cost. In addition to providing funding, the foundation plays a key role in raising awareness and advocating for the montclair public library's needs in the montclair community.
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $406,318.
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 2020 to 2021, from $942k to $1.2M (+23%).
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.
85% of MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION 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. 1 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.
Chief executive
Mary Packer
Executive director
Board chair
Sheila M Boyd
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $27k → $137k.
11 of 37 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 63% 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 MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 37 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
MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
82% 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 MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 66% · 2019 41% · 2020 25% · 2021 35% · 2022 35% · 2023 37% — broadly stable.
“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
36% of MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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
63% of MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC'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 $291k that is directly attributable, 65% of it comes from New Jersey funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $502k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION 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 New Jersey
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% 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 MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION 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 MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC?
- MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $792,917 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($152,585). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $792,917 in grants to MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $152,585 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Jersey. 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 37 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