Friends of the Piedmont Ave Library
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 844203055
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Oakland, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5107048476
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Libraries
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $61,704
- Expenses
- $6,063
- Assets
- $86,461
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RONILE LAHTI (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- RONILE LAHTI (PRESIDENT)
- ARLEEN FENG (SECRETARY)
- JOANNA SMITH (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 advocate for the piedmont avenue branch library
What it reported doing in 2025
The piedmont avenue branch library is bursting at the seams. Operating out of a temporary 1,900-square-foot modular unit on elementary school grounds, our library's programs attract overwhelming community engagement that far exceeds our physical footprint. Sadly, the spatial limits compromise student access, forcing visiting elementary classes to split in half: 50% of the children flood the stacks and the rest wait outside for their turn to browse books and receive librarian support. Overwhelming demand also routinely pushes vital community programming outdoors. For example, every tuesday morning, over 125 children and caregivers pack a 400-square-foot asphalt patch on a tarp for toddler storytime and stay-and-play, making family literacy, arts, and health programs entirely dependent on good weather. With no municipal capital funding available from the city of oakland, the friends of the piedmont avenue library is launching a targeted capital campaign to partner with foundations and public and private donors. Investment will build a permanent, state-of-the-art facility, transforming an overflowing neighborhood hub into a modern anchor for youth literacy, education, and public wellness.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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 revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 43
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 9.5%; rating input score 10
- Program expense ratio: 96.9%; rating input score 97
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: 90.2%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.26; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 9.5% of revenue deployed · 96.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 10/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.