Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1998.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
17 people listed on the 990; $183K paid to officers and key staff.
Yissel Salafsky’s $143K as CEO is at the 60th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3394 $1–10M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 5 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yissel Salafsky | $142,718 | $123,651 | — | — | — |
| Jenny Volpe | — | — | $91,797 | $93,970 | $91,233 |
| Fernando Gonzalez | $87,975 | — | $56,090 | — | — |
| Melinda Englert | — | $59,829 | $68,188 | — | — |
| Ally Baehr | — | — | $13,850 | $67,961 | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Empower children to read and succeed through early literacy programs.
Questions for Make Way for Books
Your first name shows with your question. Make Way for Books answers here, for everyone.
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Make Way for Books Family Education and Literacy Programs:The majority of young children (ages birth to five) in Arizona do not have access to high-quality early education. Make Way for Books provides access to high-quality, bilingual (English/Spanish) early literacy education through programs that meet families with young children in…
Make Way for Books Professional Development Programs (The Story Project and Cuntame):This comprehensive early literacy strategy provides economically-disadvantaged children (ages birth to 5) with opportunities to discover the joy of books and develop early literacy skills.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.2M | $2.5M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $1.1M | $1.1M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $2.9M | $4.1M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $347K | $1.2M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $2.5M | $2.9M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $151K | $118K | $24K | $9K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.5M | $1.1M | $235K | $84K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $28K | $15K | $12K | $1K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $113K | $97K | $13K | $3K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $121K | $92K | $22K | $7K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $94K | $16K | $67K | $11K |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $166K | $83K | $37K | $46K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $18K | $219 | $2K | $16K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $96K | $78K | $11K | $8K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $28K | $23K | $3K | $2K |
| TravelLn 17 | $72K | $69K | $2K | $1K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $53K | $45K | $5K | $3K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $17K | $15K | $2K | $1K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $635K | $627K | $3K | $6K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $32K | $20K | $1K | $11K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $3.1M | $2.4M | $438K | $208K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $3.7M | $3.5M | $207K | $3.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 Viewing | $3.5M | $3.1M | $384K | $2.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $3.0M | $2.7M | $231K | $2.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $2.7M | $2.3M | $414K | $2.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $2.0M | $1.9M | $109K | $1.9M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $3,462,625 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 15 of 15 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $3,462,625 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $3,078,770 across 15 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $4,137,497 assets, 14 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $2,921,577 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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