Skip to content

Maryland · Nonprofit

THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC

THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC (Maryland) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $173,991 to it, the largest being THE HORIZON FOUNDATION OF HOWARD COUNTY INC ($41,760). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$185k
Funders on record
11
Grants received
$174k
Net assets
$234k
6/11 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 12%
01What it does

What The Friends of the Howard County Library Inc does

Mission

Provide funding outreach and volunteer support to the Howard County Library System for community programming services and events.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.

Programs

  1. Friends grants to HCLS Educational Programs for Children and Teens funded by donations and grants to the Friends directed to support of HCLS programs through for The A+ Partnership Battle of the Books Kindergarten Here We Come Live Homework Help HCLS Spelling Bee Summer Reading & Student Intervention Bookmarks Enchanted Garden Teen Time Homework Centers. and STEAM Makerspace. Thousands of children are served over the course of the year.

    $164,326 spentof which $164,326 as grants
    82% of program spending
  2. Friends grants to HCLS Educational Advocacy Programs for Adults funded by donations to the Friends for Source Magazine Project Literacy Legislative Action On Screen Program Evening in the Stacks and Special Programs.

    $36,650 spentof which $36,650 as grants
    18% of program spending
  3. Not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending
  4. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $200,976.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20212021 Revenue 100 ($153k) Expenses 100 ($132k) Net assets 100 ($177k)2022 Revenue 123 ($189k) Expenses 161 ($213k) Net assets 86 ($153k)2023 Revenue 158 ($241k) Expenses 178 ($235k) Net assets 90 ($159k)2024 Revenue 121 ($185k) Expenses 87 ($116k) Net assets 132 ($234k)
2021202220232024
Revenue (121)Expenses (87)Net assets (132)

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 $159k to $234k (+48%).

$177k
$153k
$159k
$234k
2021202220232024
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.

2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.

$21k
’21
−$24k
’22
$6k
’23
$69k
’24
3.8
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.

Board chair

Nana Owusu-Nkwantabiisi

Board Chair

As listed on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.

03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $2k → $29k.

5 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC’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

THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% 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

66% 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 THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC.

24%
largest funder
64%
top three
~6
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 78% · 2021 66% · 2022 99% · 2023 51% — 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 THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

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

91% of THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC's grant income comes from Maryland funders.

MO
MD
FL

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

’17
’19
’20
’23
Maryland out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $73k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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

Organizations like THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY 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 Maryland

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Public support

99%

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

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY 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.

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 THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC?
THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC (Maryland) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $173,991 to it, the largest being THE HORIZON FOUNDATION OF HOWARD COUNTY INC ($41,760). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC have?
IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $173,991 in grants to THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC?
THE HORIZON FOUNDATION OF HOWARD COUNTY INC is the largest funder on record, with $41,760 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE FRIENDS OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 Friends of the Howard County Library →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 11 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