FAQ

As the volume of books that we donate increases we have instituted policies that will help us respond to the needs and requests of the organizations we serve. In the last 3 years or so we have experienced a threefold increase in the number of organizations served. We have also experienced an increase of the number of organizations that have not followed through on the acceptance of shipments of books they have requested. This has prompted us to put forth in writing policies pertaining to this and other matters. We have also experienced an increase of organizations requesting donations for which their organizations are not eligible according to the stated guidelines of the program. We believe that it is the organization’s responsibility to review the guidelines and instructions for each program and to submit the proper paperwork pertaining to the request. We have placed the guidelines and applications for each program on the web site where they are accessible for everyone to review. If you have questions about your eligibility, we will gladly respond to your questions via e-mail.

All requests for book donations must be made in the context of one of the following programs:

• Annual Book Donations
• Directors Discretionary Book Donation Program
• All Children Need Books
• Books For All Kids
• Event Sponsorship

• We do not make book donations to groups that do not have non-profit status. All requests must be made on the organization’s letterhead and mailed to: Pathways Within, PO Box 960154, Boston, MA 02196. Requests made by e-mail will not be acknowledged unless the application or book offer specifies that you do so.

We will be more than happy to e-mail the applications or guidelines to you.

Please include your name, your organization's name, a brief description of your organization, and a telephone number where you can be reached with all email correspondence. We may contact you by telephone in case we don’t have a short answer to your questions and/or we need clarification regarding your question(s).

Organizations may not apply for the Annual Book Donation Program and the Director’s Discretionary Book Donation program in the same year.

If your organization has been granted an award of books in either the Annual Book Donation Program or the Director’s Discretionary Book Donation Program, your organization will be required to wait two calendar years before applying for books in either program again. Book donations made through either of the above mentioned programs will not preclude you from applying and receiving books through other programming in the Roads to Reading Initiative.

Please do not request specific titles of books, specific theme books or literacy kits. Making such request will automatically disqualify your organization from the program.

Are non-profits that administer programs on Public or Charter School property allowed to participate in the Books for All Kids Program?

• No, not always, some donors of books in this program have stipulated that the books cannot be donated to Public or Charter Schools. Once the books leave our shipping facility, we have no way of assuring that the books will not be placed in classrooms. Books from certain donors have a grantee identifier on it and we do not what to jeopardize any future donations from these publishers.

Do you make donations to foreign organizations?

• No, the cost of shipping books overseas is cost prohibitive and our publishing partners have requested that the books be used for the benefit of children in the United States. We also will not make donations to domestic organizations, that will make use of the books donated by our organization overseas.

Can we pay for the shipping and handling charges with a Credit Card?

• Most of our payment transactions are processed through PayPal. PayPal accepts most major credit cards and checks. We do not accept credit cards in our office or over the phone.

If our organization has received books from other programs within the Roads to Reading Initiative in the past, are we still eligible to participate in this offer?

• Yes, as long as you are eligible within the set guidelines and your organization is in good standing with other Roads to Reading Initiative donation programs.

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 materials as efficiently as possible, at the lowest possible cost.

How This 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 this Initiative funds:

• 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 this Initiative does 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 donations.

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:
  • Pathways Within, Inc.
    PO Box 960154
    Boston, MA 02196
    E-mail: annual@pwirtr.org
    Website: www.pwirtr.org
• Applications sent to any other address than the one specified will be automatically denied.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 is served by your organization.

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.

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.

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.

Will your organization donate to Adult Literacy programs?

• No. We do get adult books from time to time which we donate through special offers.

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.

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.

Will your initiative make donations outside of the United States?

• No

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. The donated material must be used within the United States as well.

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.

Program Policies

The program will donate between 30 and 50 books that are age appropriate to each approved applicant organization. Organizations will not have a choice in the selection of book titles or genre or the number of books they will receive. Making specific requests will automatically result in a denial of your request. Organizations will be restricted to one donation per calendar year. Submitting a request does not mean that a book grant will be given. All applications are awarded at the discretion of the Executive Director. The process is simple and there will be no fees of any kind. Requesting organizations must provide a copy of the 501(c)3 and a one-page typewritten description of how the books will be used by the requesting organization. It would also be helpful to include what age and reading level of books you are interested in acquiring. In this one-page description the requestor must clearly articulate why the donation will benefit the organization. It is our preference that the books be utilized to expand a reading center or a remedial reading programming. The books have to be for use in a program or schools located in the United States. Foreign organizations that have a United State’s Federal Tax Exemption are not eligible for donations. Our response to your request may take up to 60 days.

If you have questions about the program, please direct them to Lauren Green, at 1green@pwirtr.org.
Our mailing address is:

• Pathways Within, Inc.(DDBDP)
• PO Box 960154
• Boston, MA 02196
• Attention: Executive Director

We will not accept letters via e-mail.

Historically the Roads to Reading Initiative has not participated in event sponsorships. Starting in January 2009, we sponsor events related to Children’s Literacy and the distribution of books to such events. We will provide sponsorship to no more than seven events per fiscal year. Our fiscal year begins on October 1, of each year, and ends on September 31, of each year.

Here is the procedure for applying for sponsorship:

1. The nature of the event. (Who is the targeted audience, where the event is going to take place and when, how many adult/children do you think you will attract to the event, and who are your other sponsors or prospective sponsors.)
2. Copy of the 501(c)3. (For-profit organizations or individuals, or schools, libraries will be considered for sponsorship)
3. How many books you are requesting and the age group for which you are requesting the books.
4. How you are planning to promote the sponsorship of the Roads to Reading’s donation to this event.
5. Please send flyers or brochures for the event and your organization, if this information is available. This will help us determine if we are interested in participating in the event.
6. We will send notification within thirty days of the request by mail if your request is granted or not. Please be aware that if sponsorship is granted, the requesting organization will have to assume all shipping cost for the delivery of the books. Most of our book shipments are shipped FedEx Ground.
7. We will only consider request for event sponsorships that physically take place within the Continental United States. No exceptions will be considered.

Please send your request to:

• Roads to Reading Initiative
• Lauren Green, Program Director
• PO Box 960154
• Boston, MA 02196
• E-mail: LGreen@pwirtr.org