Nashville Public Library Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621681766
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6158802610
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,194,953
Expenses
$4,718,337
Assets
$39,476,177
Liabilities
$671,971

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHAWN BAKKER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHAWN BAKKER (PRESIDENT): $164,893 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The foundation invests in programs that help nashville public library empower our community, ignite children's imaginations, and foster lifelong learning throughout nashville. At the foundation, we provide nashville public library with critical support that bridges the gap between public tax dollars and the additional funding that is required to make these programs possible. Founded in 1997, this public/private partnership has raised more than $68m to develop a dynamic library system that serves everyone in our community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Begin bright is nashville public library's early literacy campaign to set children up for kindergarten reading success through a groundbreaking transformational plan. Npl's approach includes delivering a "little library and corresponding resources to every childcare center in the county, providing in-person and on-demand digital trainings for parents and teachers, and enlisting a national research organization to study the impact over four years, creating an actionable, measurable model that will transform the early literacy landscape. Based on the success of the bringing books to life model, this initiative is in its early implementation stages. Bringing books to life (bbtl) is an award-winning early-literacy program that helps teachers and parents foster a love of reading in children through teacher trainings, family literacy programs, and story-related classroom activities. Founded in 2003 and developed in partnership with educators and experts in early childhood development, bbtl is centered on npl's literature-based puppet performances. Bbtl promotes early childhood literacy through interactive story time, puppet performances, parent workshops in english & spanish, and trainings for educators. Bringing books to life served 15,888 children, teachers, and parents through 502 in-person programs at 139 locations and 597 virtual programs in fy25. Bbtl continues to grow as a program with the begin bright campaign, offering these essential services to children, educators, and parents.

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 81% 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: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 90
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 29%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 66.8%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.37; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 29% of revenue deployed · 67.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 31 of 31 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 32 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.