New York · Nonprofit
THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC
THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC (New York) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,716,575 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($275,575). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.1M
- Funders on record
- 56
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $2.2M
What The Mercantile Library Association of the City of New York Inc does
Mission
The center for fiction was founded in 1820 as the mercantile library. Its mission is to encourage people to read and value fiction and to support and celebrate its creation and enjoyment.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The center for fiction offers a wide range of public programming for local and national audiences; workshops and creative spaces for emerging and established writers; and awards and fellowships that support the development of fresh talent and inspire readers to discover new voices. In the last year, over 200,000 people visited the center, and more than 34,000 people participated in our in-person and virtual programs. At our home in brooklyn one can visit our bookstore and caf & bar; attend an event; and join our membership library and writers studioor explore our work online at centerforfiction.org.
$2,147,371 spentof which $86,429 as grants$1,326,301 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,147,371.
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 $3.2M to $2.6M (−19%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 2% · 2020 10% · 2021 9% · 2022 2% · 2023 13% · 2024 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
52% of THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Lydah Debin
Executive director
Board chair
Erroll Mcdonald
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 29 funders, grant income rose $97k → $396k.
10 of 56 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.
Left out of every figure on this page: $3.0M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Clinton Hall Association of the City of New York Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC raised.
From the IRS filings of THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 56 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
THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
44% 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 MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 56% · 2019 55% · 2020 24% · 2021 21% · 2022 17% · 2023 10% — 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
31% of THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% 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
64% of THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $593k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC has grown faster than half of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $160k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$145k
- Department of State$15k
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 THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
83%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Clinton Hall Assoc of the City of Ny · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 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.
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 MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC?
- THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC (New York) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,716,575 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($275,575). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC have?
- IRS filings report 56 organizations giving $1,716,575 in grants to THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC, 25 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $275,575 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Mercantile Library Association of the City of New York →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 56 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