Bernie's Book Bank

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270914453
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Lake Bluff, IL, USA
Phone
8477807323
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,463,630
Expenses
$6,013,621
Assets
$13,065,331
Liabilities
$4,067,254

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KRISTEN DANIELS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU 10/25))
  • JENNA RENNO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - MKE)
  • AMY BOTT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - SC)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN FLORIANI (FOUNDER): $207,488 total reported compensation
  • KRISTEN DANIELS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU 10/25)): $118,621 total reported compensation
  • MARGARET LEAHY (NAT. DIR. OF MARKETING & COMM./OED): $118,430 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Driven by a passionate collective of volunteers and partners, we supply children who need them with free, high-quality books to build in-home libraries of their very own.

What it reported doing in 2025

Bernie's book bank is a simple solution to a solvable problem: mitigating the children's literacy crisis. We're a nonprofit that transforms children's lives through book ownership by sourcing, processing and distributing free, high-quality books to children who need them most. Since our founding in 2009, we've delivered more than 30 million books into children's hands and homes, including more than 2.5 million in 2025. Today, we serve more than 315,000 children annually across our chicagoland, greater milwaukee and Florida suncoast chapters. Funded by generous donors and committed companies and fueled by a passionate team of partners and volunteers, we believe better futures begin with books.what sets us apart: we're laser-focused on one thing, getting books into children's hands. This drives what we do every day to be effective, efficient and scalable. We keep it simple, three things, done exceptionally well.(1) we source quality new and gently used children's books through partnerships with schools, businesses, book publishers and distributors. Bernie's book bank manages the collection process, taking the burden off schools and partner organizations, maximizing donations of quality books and minimizing costs.(2) we process books at our processing center, powered by a passionate collective of volunteers of all ages and all abilities, including individuals, community service groups and corporate teams, who together contributed more than 46,653 hours in 2025. Together they move mountains of books, stickering, sorting and bagging them for each child.(3) we focus on communities where children are least likely to have books of their own, distributing eight free books, every year, to children from birth through sixth grade. Partnering with schools that have at least 40 percent enrollment in the free or reduced lunch program (frlp) or receive whole-school title i funds, we get books into the hands of children who need them most. We also reach our youngest readers through wic (women, infants and children) programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.1%; rating input score 49
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.5%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.17; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.1% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $207K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $115K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.