Bang For Your Buck

Just about the only thing we take from your donation is pride.

Thanks to Dolly Parton’s streamlined operation and our lean, all-volunteer staff, a full 90% of your donation goes straight to books for kids here in Rochester. Our 10% overhead is half the national non-profit average of 20%.

We buy in bulk.

At every stage of the game, we use economies of scale to squeeze the most out of your donation. Thanks to an exclusive arrangement with Penguin Random House, books that retail for an average of $13 cost the Imagination Library just $1.45. Our non-profit status and bulk rates trim mailing costs by 75%, and the Dollywood Foundation’s centralized operation takes care of our administrative costs for free.

We take a $25 donation and turn it into $220—a 9x increase on your investment.