Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 2015.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
78 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
11 people listed on the 990; $73K paid to officers and key staff.
Caroline Cumming’s $95K as Executive Director is at the 81st percentile of top reported officer pay among 1613 $100K–1M 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 · 1 named individual · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caroline Cumming | $95,000 | $97,461 | $73,308 | $68,708 | $62,591 | $68,281 |
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 15aNo
- Loans to or from officersSch L · Pt II1 listed
Programs and updates
Preserves books, shares them through libraries, and hosts cultural programs and writer workspaces.
Questions for Seattle Athenaeum
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Folio provides inclusive and accessible space to read, write, and work. Located at the heart of Pike Place Market, Folio's reading rooms are home to a circulating book collection of over 11,000 books, and many literary and cultural periodicals.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2023 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY23 | End FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $33K | $49K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $0 | $0 |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $38K | $168K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $44K | $62K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | −$6K | $106K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $73K | $51K | $15K | $7K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $86K | $80K | $6K | $0 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $5K | $4K | $676 | $240 |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $13K | $11K | $2K | $592 |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $7K | $0 | $7K | $0 |
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $600 | $600 | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $1K | $1K | $0 | $0 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $3K | $2K | $345 | $122 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $5K | $4K | $627 | $222 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $34K | $28K | $4K | $2K |
| TravelLn 17 | $9 | $0 | $9 | $0 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $4K | $204 | $0 | $4K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $3K | $3K | $433 | $154 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $11K | $5K | $0 | $6K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $8K | $8K | $200 | $31 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $253K | $197K | $36K | $21K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $361K | $367K | −$6K | $238K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $450K | $312K | $138K | $244K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 Viewing | $366K | $253K | $112K | $106K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $249K | $264K | −$15K | −$6K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $203K | $228K | −$24K | $4K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $227K | $216K | $11K | $28K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $365,693 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 10 of 10 board members independent, 3 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $365,693 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $253,454 across 15 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $168,138 assets, 11 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $106,415 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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