Bright Lights Book Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 873365439
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025
- Location
- Palmer, AK, USA
- Phone
- 9077454747
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Recycling Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $75,061
- Expenses
- $75,975
- Assets
- $113,873
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Alys Culhane (Executive Director)
- Beatrice Adler (President)
People named in this filing
- Alys Culhane (Executive Director)
- Robert Wallis (Board)
- Pete Praetorius (Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To expand access to books and literacy resources to appreciative readers of all ages.
What it reported doing in 2025
We distribute free books locally and statewide to rural villages. We currently stock 40 bookcases of free books locally. Bookcases are accessible to the general public and by students. To acquire books, BLBP volunteers accept donated books from school districts, bookstores, thrift stores, and private donations. In 2024 we expanded our book distribution to Alaska villages off the road system.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 38
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 50
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 37.6%; rating input score 38
- Program expense ratio: 37%; rating input score 37
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.5; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 37.6% of revenue deployed · 37% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $28K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 38/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.