Book Industry Charitable Foundation
Since 1996, Binc is the only nonprofit in the country dedicated to assisting bookstore and comic shop owners, and their employees, through unforeseen financial emergencies.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Owners and employees of brick-and-mortar bookstores and comic shops can have their lives derailed by the unexpected because their jobs, while important to their communities, are not often high-paying. The Book Industry Charitable Foundation exists to help bookstore and comic shop owners, and their employees through unforeseen financial emergencies. The Foundation was imagined and built by booksellers and proudly continues to be their safety net.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Financial Assistance
Established in 1996, the core program strengthens the bookselling and comic retailing communities through charitable programs that support employees, owners, and their families who have a demonstrated need, arising from severe hardship and/or emergency circumstances. Since its inception, the organization has provided over $11M in charitable aid to over 10,000 book and comic sellers and their families.
Professional Development Scholarships for Book and Comic Store Owners and Employees
The Foundation believes that the future of healthy bookstores and comic stores lies in the continuing education of the owners and employees. To encourage further business development and growth, the Foundation offers scholarships for several professional events and certificate programs.
Information on current scholarships can be found on our website: https://www.bincfoundation.org/scholarships/
Where we work
Awards
Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Innovator’s Award 2021
Los Angeles Times Book Prizes
Affiliations & memberships
Unite Against Book Bans 2023
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Average grant amount
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Financial Assistance
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Amount reflects Binc's core program: individual assistance. Does not reflect special one-time Covid-19 related initiatives, such as #SaveIndieBookstores Comics United Fund, & Survive to Thrive.
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Financial Assistance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2023 includes mental health wellness 2021 shows grants to individuals. 2020 shows grants to individuals & includes pandemic-driven needs.
Total number of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Financial Assistance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2023 includes mental health wellness 2021 Numbers reflect individual assistance and special one-time initiatives.
Number of organizations applying for grants
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Financial Assistance
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The metric tracks individuals, not organizations. Note: 2020 & 2021 results include special one-time assistance relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation’s mission is to strengthen the bookselling and comic retailing communities through charitable programs that support employees, owners, and their families.
Our goal is to resolve the individual's financial crisis and restore the household to financial stability. Each situation is reviewed to determine our part in getting the family on more stable financial footing.
The Foundation was imagined and built by booksellers and proudly continues to be their safety net.
It is our vision to be a caring community of book and comic people Binc provides emergency financial assistance as well as scholarships for professional development.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Binc has developed relationships across the bookselling and comic industry to spread awareness and encourage advocacy.
Our ambassador, Ann Patchett, is instrumental in elevating awareness of Binc and its services.
The Author/Creator Leadership Circle, led by Chairperson Garth Stein, contributes support and awareness of the help available to the bookselling and comics community.
We reach out to bookstores and comic shops quickly following emergencies to let them know about our programming and meet with booksellers at regional bookselling trade shows.
We actively seek out new stores through industry publications and proactively reach out to them to ensure the owners and store team are aware of the resources, information, and financial literacy options available to them through Binc.
The Program Managers take a three-month view of each situation to determine the part Binc would have in getting the family on more stable financial footing.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have a nimble, compassionate, and responsive team who work together to operate a toll free telephone line, several social media accounts, and a website with a host of resources for booksellers and comic shop owners and employees seeking assistance after an emergency.
An Inquiry Form is available on our website to request contact from Binc directly or on behalf of someone else.
Binc demonstrates world class professionalism in handling the inquiry and application process, quickly evaluating applications and providing assistance with care and discretion. Once the application process is completed, there is a short turnaround before assistance is approved or denied; most qualifying applicants have help on the way in less than 48 hours from application completion.
Binc is supported by organizations across the book and comics industry, building strong relationships with publishers, authors, creators, booksellers, and book and comics lovers.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since inception, we have sought to increase awareness and the assistance given year over year. No one qualified for assistance has ever been turned away.
To date Binc has distributed more than $11 million to help more than 10,000 booksellers, comic shop employees, store owners, and their families with emergency assistance and scholarships.
This unprecedented impact was recognized when Binc received the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Innovator's Award in recognition of the work achieved during the height of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2020 and 2021, the book and comic communities helped Binc raise and distribute nearly $4.5 million of emergency financial assistance to help over 2,800 stores and individuals.
We will continue to bring awareness to our mission to strengthen the greater bookselling community until every bookseller, comic shop employee, bookstore and comic shop owner knows that, in an emergency, they can turn to Binc to be their safety net.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Book Industry Charitable Foundation
Board of directorsas of 02/01/2024
Chris Morrow
Rockelle Henderson
Rock Inked, Inc.
Annie Philbrick
Bank Square Books
Eileen Dengler
New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association
Chris Morrow
Northshire Bookstore
Calvin Crosby
California Independent Booksellers Alliance
Jonathan Putnam
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Erin Coffey
Macmillan Publishers
Kuo-Yu Liang
Ku Worldwide Consultancy
Steven Malk
Writers House
Andy Perham
Books Inc.
Chriscynethia Floyd
Our Daily Bread Publishing
Michael Jacobs
Emma Kaas
Norwich Bookstore
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/31/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.