We envision a world where every child has access to a quality education. First Book removes barriers to equitable education by providing high-quality books and educational resources to children in low-income communities and supporting the educators who serve them.
First Book’s largest recent grants went to Teach For All and Ashoka, each at $2,780,745 in 2025, signaling a strong commitment to youth empowerment alongside its longer-running book-access work. The foundation focuses on removing barriers to equitable education by providing high-quality books, educational resources, and support for educators serving children in low-income communities. Its recent grants also show a broad coalition model: in 2023, First Book funded a wide set of literacy and child-development organizations, including Reach Out and Read, Parents As Teachers, Book Harvest, Raising a Reader, and Room to Read. Those awards sit alongside direct-service and partnership programs that distribute books and learning materials, support educator networks, and connect local organizations to culturally relevant resources. The funder’s portfolio ties literacy to broader education goals, with grantmaking that reaches from early reading to youth-led changemaking. Across the recent record, the emphasis is not on a single program but on a mix of national partners, local book-distribution efforts, and collaborative education initiatives.
In literacy and book access, First Book gave $25,000 to Book Harvest for a diverse book coalition and $25,000 to Reach Out and Read Boston for the same category, reflecting support for organizations that place books with children and families. The foundation also backed educator-facing and child-development groups: $15,000 went to Parents As Teachers for a diverse book coalition, linking reading access with early learning support. On the early childhood side, First Book awarded $10,000 to the American Academy of Pediatrics for a diverse book coalition, connecting books with pediatric and family settings. Its youth-empowerment work appears at a much larger scale through 2025 grants to Teach For All and Ashoka, showing that the foundation also funds changemaking and education leadership beyond book distribution.
First Book’s recent grant sizes cluster around modest awards, with a typical range centered at a p25 of $10,000, a median of $15,000, and a p75 of $25,000. The pattern also includes two much larger 2025 grants of $2,780,745, indicating that the foundation mixes small coalition support with major strategic awards. The profile reads as that of a public charity and regular funder rather than a private family foundation. In the recent grants list, recipients are concentrated in a single year for most of the smaller awards, while the 2025 gifts suggest a separate large-program layer.
$5.6M
$36M
$92.3M
$93.8M
Most grants fall between $10K and $25K, with a median of $15K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$15K
75th Percentile
$25K
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First Book gives nationally, and the recent grants all went to U.S. recipients. Washington, DC appears frequently among recipients, including AFT, Unidos, Heart of America, Reading Is Fundamental, and NAEYC. Other repeated recipient locations include New York, NY; Boston, MA; and San Diego, CA. The country distribution is entirely domestic, with 20 grants in the United States.
First Book funds organizations tied to early literacy, K-12 education, educational equity, book distribution, educator support, and student mental health resources. In the recent grants list, that includes literacy groups, child-development organizations, and youth-empowerment partners, along with coalition-based awards for diverse books.
The grant-size distribution centers on relatively small awards: p25 is $10,000, the median is $15,000, and p75 is $25,000. The recent record also includes two much larger 2025 grants of $2,780,745 each, so the portfolio includes both small coalition grants and major strategic awards.
By recipient location, DC is the top state by grant count, with 28% of grants going to recipients in the HQ state. Recent DC recipients include AFT, Unidos, Heart of America, Reading Is Fundamental, and NAEYC.
Yes, some of its active programs accept unsolicited requests. The data specifically marks Corporate Partnerships / Transformational Financial Support, Creating Learning Connections, First Book Marketplace, First Book & Foundation for Appalachian Ohio partnership, and Time for Change as accepting unsolicited submissions.
Its active programs center on book distribution, literacy, educational access, and collaborative learning initiatives. Named programs include Grants Deliver on Books, Literacy Rich Classroom Libraries, Creating Learning Connections, the First Book Marketplace and National Book Bank, and Time for Change: Dream, Act, Change Our World.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Current and upcoming funding from First Book that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Librarians serving children in need; membership in the First Book Network (joining is free).
Who can apply: Must register as a First Book Network member to access free resources, Book Bank eligibility and special funding opportunities promoted through the Marketplace.
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Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashoka | Arlington, VA | $2,780,745 | 2025 | Youth Empowerment |
| Teach for All | New York, NY | $2,780,745 | 2025 | Youth Empowerment |
| AFT | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| PARENTS AS TEACHERS | St Louis, MO | $25,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| BOOK HARVEST | Durham, NC | $25,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| REACH OUT AND READ RI | Providence, RI | $25,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| RAISING A READER | Milpitas, CA | $25,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| REACH OUT AND READ GREATER NEW YORK | New York, NY | $25,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| REACH OUT AND READ BOSTON | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| PARENTCHILD | New York, NY | $15,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| HEART OF AMERICA | Washiington, DC | $15,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| UNIDOS | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| ROOM TO READ | San Francisco, CA | $15,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| NBCDI (NATIONAL BLACK CHILD DEVEL INST) | Silver Spring, MD | $15,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| LEADERS READERS NETWORK | Canyon, TX | $10,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| NAEYC | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| JUMPSTART | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| READING IS FUNDAMENTAL | Washiington, DC | $10,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| READ ON ARIZONA | Phoenix, AZ | $10,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
| AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS | San Diego, CA | $10,000 | 2023 | Diverse book coalition |
AFT
$25,000Diverse book coalition
REACH OUT AND READ RI
Diverse book coalition
LEADERS READERS NETWORK
$10,000Diverse book coalition
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
$10,000Diverse book coalition