The Annual Competitive Book Donation Program

The Annual Competitive Book Donation Program is designed to donate books to literacy programming in small and rural communities only. The organizational budget limit to be eligible is currently set at $150,000.00 annually. The community where the organization is located must be an under served community. It is not enough to have a certain number of families within a community that are under served to qualify. The population where the organization is located must be under 50,000. All programs must have a strong focus on remedial reading programming or a tutoring component as part of the program. Books for book bags programs, mobile libraries, gifts and give-a-ways, events or book club requests will not be granted through the Annual Donation program. In addition, School Districts, Lead Agencies or umbrella agencies may not apply for donations. Each site within group agencies or districts must apply for donations separately. The books that are available through this program are appropriate for ages 6 months to young adult. Books in this program are available in hard and soft cover. Currently all books in this program are available in English only. Our organization will only entertain requests for books from organizations that are located within the United States and the books must be for use in the United States.

Program Policies

How Our Initiative Works?

Please read the guidelines before completing the application. This program is for small and rural communities as we define them and you must meet the budget limits and other guidelines. Please do not submit an application if your organization and/or program does not fit within all the guidelines. If there is some doubt about your eligibility, please e-mail us with your questions.

Who and What we fund:

  • School-based programs
  • After-School or Community Literacy Programs
  • Day-Care Centers
  • We will make donations to Public Library collections available for students and for direct use. (We will not make donations available for Book Bag Programs).

We do not make book purchases for special requested titles, themes or subject matters.

What we do not fund:

  • Donations are not made to literacy events for general disbursement, gifts or prizes. Our mission is to have donated materials used as resources, programming, learning and instructional tools.
  • Books used in or for home-based literacy programs. We will no longer provide books to Even Start programs, Community Development Agencies or organizations whose primary focus is not Children´s Literacy. Also, we will not provide books for the Accelerated Reading Programs.
  • We do not make contributions to organizations outside of the United States or to U.S. Territories. Foreign organizations that have a United State’s Federal Tax Exemption are not eligible for donation´s.

Eligibility:

  • Non-profit organizations with a 501(c) 3-tax status. Faith-based, grass-root organizations in under served communities are eligible to apply. The program’s primary focus has to be remedial reading in a structured environment. The program must hold meetings for a period of time and be continually and consistently under the direct supervision of professionals, paraprofessionals or volunteers.
    Examples of this would be after-school, summer, or reading programs at libraries or community centers. We will provide books to childcare centers, head-start programs and libraries for story-times and to establish small reading centers for the facility. The program must have at least a six-month history. School Districts may not apply for grants, but individual schools may. Individual Libraries are eligible, but not Library Districts.
  • Demographic restrictions: Small and rural communities, with a population of fewer than 50,000 and which are for the benefit of low-income people. We define a community with a median income under $52,029 per household.
  • Organizational, (not program) annual operating budgets under $150,000. Schools and libraries are exempt from this requirement. (Other organizations may be exempt from this requirement, please e-mail our offices for more information.)
  • Organizations located outside of the United States are not eligible for our programs.

Deadlines:

  • March 30th. Late applications will be returned without review. We will accept applications from January 1st through March 30th. Applications must be in hand on the deadline date.

How to Apply:

Download and complete the application found here.

  • Send your application to:
  • Applications sent to any other address than the one specified will be automatically denied.

FAQ

When is the application due if the 30th falls on a Saturday or Sunday? What day is the grant due?

  • The application is due on that following Monday.
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Why are the operational budgets for the organizations so low for the organizations that the Roads to Reading Initiative Competitive Grant serve?

  • The mission and the purpose of the Annual program is to serve literacy organizations in small communities that have little or no means of purchasing quality-reading materials.
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Do you really check the demographics?

  • Yes we do. We look at the current census of the area for economic and population information. If you have questions about whether or not your organization qualifies, this information can easily be found on the internet. You can type the Town and State name in at: google.com and the information regarding the town you are inquiring about will be available. You must meet the population, operational budget, and town economic thresholds.
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Why are Counties, Community Development Organization (CDC), School Districts, and Fiscal Agents, not allowed to apply for the grants?

  • With an umbrella agent, Pathways Within does not know where or with whom the books are physically going to be placed. Also, organizations can have multi-sites in multi-communities that are not necessarily under served.
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What do we define as an under served community?

  • We look at the economic area where the organization is located. We will not take in consideration the fact that you just serve the economically disadvantaged. The town where the organization is located must be considered under served, not just a portion of the population that your organization serves.
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Why do you request census information?

  • Some of our donors and organizations that provide funding to us to operate our organization ask us for this information. Since we do not provide direct services to the book recipients ourselves, we must get this information from the organizations we serve.
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What criteria do you use to the make decision on who receives donations or not?

  • We are less likely to donate books to organizations that state they want books for the sole reason that they do not have books for the children to read. There needs to be a structured reading program in place in order to be considered for this program. The Roads to Reading Initiative is not a book bank. We look for programming that has a strong remedial focus and that will stimulate an interest in reading and that are heavily involved in remedial work. We want to know what it is that makes your program unique. We need a short concise, detailed overview of what the books will be used for. We also need to know that there is an economic need.
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How does the Initiative define remedial?

  • A process of correction of faulty study habits, the improvement of skills imperfectly learned and the raising of the child’s general competence.
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Will your organization donate to Adult Literacy programs?

  • No. We do get adult books from time to time which we donate through special offers.
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How long does it take to hear about the status of an application?

  • You will receive an answer in writing within 90 days from the due date.
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If a book donation grant is awarded how long does it take to receive the books?

  • It can take up to 120 days from the date of notification of your award letter.
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Will your initiative make donations outside of the United States?

  • No
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What if a foreign organizations has Federal tax exemption in the United States, will the possibility of donations be entertained?

  • No. We only make donations to organizations that are physically located inside the United States and the use of the donated material must be used within the United States as well.
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Why an Administrative Fee?

  • Pathways Within, Inc. charges administrative fees for the products we offer in an effort to partially subsidize our donation programs, and to defray the shipping and packing materials cost incurred in shipping the books to your organization. The fees typically represent a small percentage of the original retail price of the product.

    They vary by program and are based on a number of factors:

    • The amount of work involved in launching the program.
    • The amount of work involved in qualifying and processing organizations’ requests for products on an ongoing basis.
    • The expected volume of requests.
  • By charging administrative fees, we are ensuring that Pathways Within, Inc. can continue to offer donated reading material as efficiently as possible, at the lowest possible cost.
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