Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$1,199,561

Total expenses

$789,052

Contributions and grants received

$1,143,449

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$0

Investment income

$0

Other revenue

$56,112

Total assets, end of year

$1,253,794

Total liabilities, end of year

$50,973

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$1,202,821

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$528,062

Management and general expenses

$188,616

Fundraising expenses

$72,374

Program service expenses (Part III)

$528,062

Program services were 66.9% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2023

• GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF OUR PROGRAMMING AND THE GROWTH OF OUR BOOK DISTRIBUTIONS, IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT 2023 EXCEEDED OUR GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS. PROGRAMMATICALLY, WE BOLSTERED OUR PARTICIPATION NUMBERS ACROSS EVERY LITERACY INITIATIVE, ADDED DYNAMIC NEW OPPORTUNITIES, AND GREW THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WE SERVED. IN PARTNERSHIP, WE CONTINUED TO SEE THE INFLUENCE WE ARE ABLE TO HAVE IN OUR NORTH PHILADELPHIA NEIGHBORHOOD. COMMUNITY EVENTS, OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES, AND AN EMPHASIS ON RECEIVING COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ALLOWED US TO SET PLANS IN MOTION FOR FURTHER GROWTH AND EXPANSION. OUR BOARD AND STAFF CONTINUED TO DIVERSIFY, AND OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS ARE HELPING UNDERGIRD DEVELOPMENT IN ORDER FOR US TO ACHIEVE OUR GOALS IN 2024 AND BEYOND ONE OF OUR MOST IMPACTFUL NUMBERS THIS YEAR IS THE 93,348 BOOKS THAT WE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS, INCLUDING 18,178 THROUGH OUR TRAVELING TREE HOUSE BOOKMOBILE PROGRAM. THIS DYNAMIC PROGRAM, NOW IN ITS THIRD YEAR, MADE 316 UNIQUE STOPS TO 144 SITES. OUR GIVING LIBRARY COMMUNITY SPACE ON SUSQUEHANNA AVENUE ADDED 1,828 NEW MEMBERS AND HAD 7,486 VISITS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THERE WERE 50 BOOK DRIVES HELD BY OUR PARTNERS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND WE HAD 90 VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS. OUR LITERACY PROGRAMS WERE EQUALLY AS SUCCESSFUL. THE AFTER SCHOOL LITERACY STUDIO SERVED A TOTAL OF 19 STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 8TH GRADE. A HIGHLIGHT WAS AN ORIGINAL PLAY THEY CREATED BASED ON A RAISIN IN THE SUN TITLED, A RAISIN IN THE TREE HOUSE AND PERFORMED AT VENICE ISLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER. OUR SUMMER LITERACY STUDIO SERVED 18 K-8 STUDENTS AND FEATURED AN END-OF-TERM TRIP TO THE JERSEY SHORE FOR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS ALIKE OUR SUMMER READING INTENSIVE, WORDS ON WHEELS, SERVED 186 YOUTH FROM 76 FAMILIES, TARGETING 55 OF THOSE READING BELOW GRADE LEVEL. 71% OF THOSE STUDENTS SAW AN INCREASE IN LITERACY LEVEL BY THE END OF THE SUMMER THE TEEN PROGRAM BECAME MORE TEEN-DIRECTED AS 31 STUDENTS PARTICIPATED. THEIR CALENDAR YEAR CULMINATED IN A SNEAKER BALL DANCE THAT WAS A HUGE HIT. A PILOT PROGRAM FOCUSING ON TRAVEL OUTSIDE OF THE CITY BROUGHT 6 STUDENTS AND 2 CHAPERONES TO WASHINGTON, DC WHERE THEY ATTENDED THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE. OUR IMPACT WAS FELT THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY AS WE RESUMED OUR POPULAR VISITS FIELD TRIP PROGRAM FOR THE FIRST TIME POST-PANDEMIC. WE ALSO EXPANDED OUR POPULAR PHILADELPHIA LITERACY DAY EVENT, TAKING UP 2 CITY BLOCKS AND FEATURING 12 AUTHORS, 47 COMMUNITY RESOURCE TABLES, A DJ, A PIE-EATING CONTEST, AND 688 NEIGHBORS. WE WERE HONORED TO WIN THE 2023 NONPROFIT IMPACT AWARD FROM PHILADELPHIA-BASED COMPANY GLAXO SMITH-KLEIN. WE WERE EXCITED TO PARTNER WITH THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ONCE AGAIN AS THEY RAN A BOOK DRIVE AS PART OF THEIR PHANATIC ABOUT READING NIGHT. ORGANIZATIONALLY, OUR BOARD SAW THE SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF BOARD CHAIR, BROUGHT ON 2 NEW MEMBERS, AND SAID GOODBYE TO 3 MEMBERS WHOSE TERMS EXPIRED. WE ALSO DEVELOPED AND DEBUTED OUR NEW THEORY OF CHANGE, CREATED WITH DIRECTION FROM CONSULTING FIRM THE BRIDGESPAN GROUP. A LARGE PART OF OUR YEAR WAS PREPARING AND STRATEGICALLY PLANNING FOR OUR UPCOMING EXPANSION PROJECT. AS WE LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR THE ACTUAL PLAN, WE ENGAGED MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS OUR BOARD, STAFF, AND COMMUNITY. IN EARLY 2023, THE BOARD GAVE THE GREEN LIGHT ON AN EXPANSION PLAN THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF YOUTH AND TEENS WE ARE SERVING IN IN-HOUSE PROGRAMMING. THIS EXPANSION WOULD ALSO ALLOW US TO CREATE PROGRAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS TARGETING ADULTS, FAMILIES AND OLDER ADULTS. AFTER AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH, WE SETTLED ON A PLAN THAT KEEPS US IN OUR HISTORIC BUILDING ON WEST SUSQUEHANNA AVENUE, DEMONSTRATING OUR COMMITMENT TO AND LONGEVITY IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. A FEASIBILITY STUDY WAS COMPLETED THAT RESULTED IN INITIAL ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS, AN APPRAISAL WAS PERFORMED, AND WE MADE AN OFFER TO PURCHASE THE BUILDING IN LATE 2023. WHILE WE ARE STILL IN THE BEGINNING STAGES OF THIS PLAN, WE ANTICIPATE HUGE THINGS IN 2024

  Expenses $528,062

As filed on the 2023 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

28 May 2024

IRS schema version

2023v5.0

Source object

202441499349301209

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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