Skip to content

Massachusetts · Nonprofit

PRISON BOOK PROGRAM

PRISON BOOK PROGRAM (Massachusetts) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $837,676 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION TO DECREASE WORLD SUCK ($190,202). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$662k
Funders on record
37
Grants received
$838k
Net assets
$1.0M
20/37 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 61%
01What it does

What Prison Book Program does

Mission

To support people in prison by sending them tree, high-quality books and reading materials that meet their specific needs & interests & to provide an engaging volunteer experience that connects people inside & outside the american prison system.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Mailed packages of books to approximately 18,000 prisoners throughout the united states.

    $203,291 spent$559,511 earned by the program
    83% of program spending
  2. Albert woodfox memorial mini freedom libraries. Mini library consisting of 30 books that help people find hope, purpose and transformation in difficult circumstances. The books are entrusted to the case of an incarcerated librarian who circulates them and more importantly ensures that they are discussed, prisoner-to-prisoner, as people try to grow and better themselves.

    $12,508 spent$5,749 earned by the program
    5% of program spending
  3. Publishing and distribution of a book called 'insider's guide to jailhouse law' which is a free legal resource for incarcerated people that provides a comprehensive and practical overview of the legal system and it discusses important legal developments over the past two decades.

    $2,606 spent$2,500 earned by the program
    1% of program spending
  4. Better world books program - used grant funds to acquire frequently requested, seldom donated books to add to the Prison Book Program's inventory to supply readers with the best possible materials that match their needs and interests.

    $26,173 spent
    11% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $244,578.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($102k) Expenses 100 ($79k) Net assets 100 ($43k)2020 Revenue 669 ($680k) Expenses 134 ($107k) Net assets 1448 ($628k)2021 Revenue 251 ($255k) Expenses 290 ($230k) Net assets 1506 ($654k)2022 Revenue 260 ($264k) Expenses 290 ($230k) Net assets 1586 ($688k)2023 Revenue 319 ($324k) Expenses 360 ($285k) Net assets 1676 ($728k)2024 Revenue 431 ($438k) Expenses 478 ($379k) Net assets 1811 ($786k)2025 Revenue 651 ($662k) Expenses 517 ($410k) Net assets 2391 ($1.0M)
2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue (651)Expenses (517)Net assets (2391)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 2019 to 2020, from $43k to $629k (+1349%).

$43k
$629k
$658k
$697k
$735k
$786k
$1.0M
2019202020212022202320242025
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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

95% of PRISON BOOK PROGRAM’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (94% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 2,802 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$22k
’19
$573k
’20
$25k
’21
$35k
’22
$39k
’23
$59k
’24
$252k
’25
30
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.

202020212022202320242025
Listed777889
Joined·+3+0+3+0+3
No longer listed·30202
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 16 funders, grant income rose $18k → $199k.

9 of 37 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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 PRISON BOOK PROGRAM’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

PRISON BOOK PROGRAM has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% 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

61% 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 PRISON BOOK PROGRAM.

23%
largest funder
48%
top three
~9
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 51% · 2019 64% · 2020 47% · 2021 34% · 2022 37% · 2023 41% — 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

60% of PRISON BOOK PROGRAM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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

52% of PRISON BOOK PROGRAM's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.

MT
NY
MA
IA
OH
NJ
CA
UT
MD
DE
TX
FL

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $291k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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

PRISON BOOK PROGRAM runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,661 crime & legal nonprofits its size.

Operating margin38% · top quartile
Months of reserve29.7mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)37% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,661 crime & legal nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like PRISON BOOK PROGRAM

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 Massachusetts

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

90% of spending goes to programs.

Program 90%Management 8%Fundraising 2%

Governance

9
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

81%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PRISON BOOK PROGRAM: 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 PRISON BOOK PROGRAM?
PRISON BOOK PROGRAM (Massachusetts) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $837,676 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION TO DECREASE WORLD SUCK ($190,202). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does PRISON BOOK PROGRAM have?
IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $837,676 in grants to PRISON BOOK PROGRAM, 20 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of PRISON BOOK PROGRAM?
FOUNDATION TO DECREASE WORLD SUCK is the largest funder on record, with $190,202 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like PRISON BOOK PROGRAM find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Prison Book Program →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing