EveryLibrary vs. The EveryLibrary Institute

In order to support the wide range of work of EveryLibrary and in order to comply with Federal Tax Law it is necessary to have two organizational entities: EveryLibrary and the The EveryLibrary Institute.

In order to support the wide range of work of EveryLibrary and in order to comply with Federal Tax Law it is necessary to have two organizational entities: EveryLibrary and the The EveryLibrary Institute.

  • EveryLibrary is a gold-rated 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, but gifts to it are not tax-deductible. EveryLibrary donations and contributions will fund our library ballot initiative work, legislative lobbying, and local initiatives to ensure that libraries have the resources they need to serve the public. This is the critically important work that cannot be supported by tax-deductible funds.
  • The EveryLibrary Institute is a gold-rated 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Institute gifts fund our research, data, training, and public education efforts. Gifts to the EveryLibrary Institute Foundation are fully tax-deductible to the donor.

Organizations with similar frameworks include the ACLU, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, the NRA and many more. You can read more about the differences between 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations here.

Many donors choose to make their larger tax-deductible gifts to the EveryLibrary Institute, but also continue to make smaller gifts to EveryLibrary in order allow us to do the hard work of funding libraries through local, state, and national politics. You can find our more about our work in the EveryLibrary Annual Reports and the EveryLibrary Institute Annual Reports.

Although both EveryLibrary and the EveryLibrary Institute are part of the same overall effort, there are two separate organizations that work to support libraries through a broader range of work. We often refer to these two organizations collectively as EveryLibrary. On social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the organizations often share the EveryLibrary accounts

You may make a contribution to EveryLibrary or the EveryLibrary Institute or both. A contribution to either organization will be used to support, promote, and defend libraries. However, each organization will only use the funds contributed directly to it to carry out the specific activities it conducts as part of our overall mission.