Rhode Island · Nonprofit
PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION
PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Rhode Island) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,395 to it, the largest being THE JOSEPH AND ROSALYN SINCLAIR FOUNDATION INC ($25,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
Against its field
PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 9,072 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,072 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Three funders worth looking at
Grantmakers with no record of funding this organization, ranked by how strongly the co-funder graph and the mission embeddings agree. The evidence is in section 03.
- Mabel T Woolley Trustshared fundersportfolio match
- Rhode Island Council for the Humanitieslocalportfolio match
- The Champlin Foundationshared funderslocalportfolio match
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.
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.
0% of PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2022: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income rose $16k → $25k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 20% 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 PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION’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
PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
56% 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 PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 62% · 2021 66% · 2022 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
100% of PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Rhode Island funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $11k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 stateis 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.
Funders to approach
Grantmakers that don’t fund you yet, surfaced two ways: they back organizations that share your funders, or their grantees resemble your mission. The ones both signals agree on come first.
- Mabel T Woolley Trustshared fundersportfolio matchTX · backs 8 organizations that share your funders · its grantees resemble your mission
- Rhode Island Council for the Humanitieslocalportfolio matchRI · funds 64 organizations near you · its grantees resemble your mission
- The Champlin Foundationshared funderslocalportfolio matchPA · backs 27 organizations that share your funders · funds 238 organizations near you · its grantees resemble your mission
- The Philmoney Trustportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Pearle W & Martin M Silverstein Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Charitable Trust Under Article VII of Theportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Association for Rural and Small Librariesportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Gertrude N & Seebert J Goldowsky Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Renee B Fisher Foundation Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Mary D Chafee Fund Co Mark Chafeeportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Heritage Harbor Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- June Rockwell Levy Foundation Incorporatedshared funderslocalRI · backs 15 organizations that share your funders · funds 124 organizations near you
From the co-funder graph (funders backing at least two comparable organizations, shrunk for grantee count, donor-advised and mega-funds excluded) and the universe embeddings. A research starting point; overlap is association, not a guarantee of fit.
Organizations like PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION
Nonprofits whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over the universe of US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Rhode Island
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Providence Public Library · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: 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. How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Rhode Island) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,395 to it, the largest being THE JOSEPH AND ROSALYN SINCLAIR FOUNDATION INC ($25,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $56,395 in grants to PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- THE JOSEPH AND ROSALYN SINCLAIR FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $25,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Rhode Island. 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 3funders 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 August 27, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing