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California · Nonprofit

THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC

THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $25,503 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($20,743). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$110k
Funders on record
8
Grants received
$26k
Net assets
$280k
2/8 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 4%
01What it does

What The Friends of the Redwood City Public Library Inc does

Mission

Part III Primary Exempt Purpose: The Objectives of the Corporation shall be as stated in the Articles of Incorporation and shall include charitable and education purposes within the meaning of section 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law and California nonprofit public benefit corporation law. The specific purpose of the Corporation is to support the Redwood City Public Library "RCPL" by raising funds through such means as the sale of donated books and other materials as the Friends deem fit membership dues donations and endowments to sponsor library programming or other library goods and services in each case as the Friends deem fit.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.

Program

  1. Childrens Programs Adult Programs Summer Learning Challenge Community Library Outreach Traveling Storytime Author Programs Teen Programs Neighborhood Library Programs Teen Center Funds

    $112,000 spent
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $112,000.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($104k) Expenses 100 ($10k) Net assets 100 ($278k)2019 Revenue 109 ($113k) Expenses 96 ($9k) Net assets 137 ($381k)2020 Revenue 87 ($90k) Expenses 81 ($8k) Net assets 167 ($463k)2021 Revenue 75 ($78k) Expenses 536 ($51k) Net assets 108 ($300k)2022 Revenue 64 ($67k) Expenses 1077 ($102k) Net assets 91 ($253k)2023 Revenue 90 ($93k) Expenses 694 ($66k) Net assets 101 ($280k)2024 Revenue 109 ($114k) Expenses 1105 ($105k) Net assets 104 ($289k)2025 Revenue 105 ($110k) Expenses 1251 ($119k) Net assets 101 ($280k)
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (105)Expenses (1251)Net assets (101)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 2020 to 2021, from $463k to $300k (−35%).

$278k
$381k
$463k
$300k
$253k
$280k
$289k
$280k
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
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.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

2% of THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 24,946 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$95k
’18
$104k
’19
$82k
’20
$27k
’21
−$36k
’22
$27k
’23
$9k
’24
−$9k
’25

Leadership and staff

Board chair

Mary Scavarda

Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.

03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $500 → $151.

2 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 83% 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 REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC 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 REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 81% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

83% 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 REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC.

81%
largest funder
93%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 77% · 2020 90% · 2021 91% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — 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

20% of THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 25% 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

83% of THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY 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 $4k that is directly attributable, 71% of it comes from California funders.

IL
NY
CA
MO
TX

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

’17
’18
’20
’21
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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

THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $26k to it.

Operating margin−9% · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)1% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC 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 California

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Public support

93%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC 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.

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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 REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC?
THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $25,503 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($20,743). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC have?
IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $25,503 in grants to THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC?
AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $20,743 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE FRIENDS OF THE REDWOOD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Redwood City Public Library →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 8 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