Washington · Nonprofit
SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION
SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Washington) receives grants from 108 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,262,675 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,389,350). 55 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $10M
- Funders on record
- 108
- Grants received
- $8.3M
- Net assets
- $115M
What Seattle Public Library Foundation does
Mission
The Seattle Public Library Foundation inspires the community's philanthropic support, advocacy for, and pride in the library.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The Seattle Public Library Foundation channels the generosity of more than 8,300 donors into direct support for the seattle public library, funding collections, programs, and services above and beyond what public dollars provide. In 2025, the foundation provided more than $6.5 million in funding and direct program support, including over $5.9 million in cash funding and support to the seattle public library, across six patron service priorities: collections and materials, youth and family learning, community engagement and economic development, technology and access, welcoming spaces, and seattle culture and history. This support funded 54 free, equity-based programs at library branches, which together ordered more than 5,000 events throughout the year. Collectively, these programs strengthened the library's capacity to innovate, evaluate results, and invest where impact is greatest. Additionally, the foundation supports library training, staff development, and strategic initiatives to help keep the library remain a leader in its field.the foundation's largest grant, more than $2.1million, expanded the library's collections and resources for readers of all ages. These funds…
$6,385,044 spentof which $5,757,464 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $6,385,044.
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 2021 to 2022, from $96M to $82M (−15%).
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.
68% of SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Brian Lawrence
Chief executive officer
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 45 funders, grant income rose $306k → $1.4M.
17 of 108 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 67% 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 SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 108 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
SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% 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
70% 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 SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 31% · 2019 24% · 2020 15% · 2021 23% · 2022 18% · 2023 14% — 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
38% of SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% 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
67% of SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION'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 $2.8M that is directly attributable, 59% of it comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $502k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$497k
- Department of Homeland Security$5k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION
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 Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
69%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 4 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Charitable Lead Annuity Trust (1) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SEATTLE 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. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Washington) receives grants from 108 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,262,675 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,389,350). 55 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 108 organizations giving $8,262,675 in grants to SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION, 55 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,389,350 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 108 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