Who funds recreation and sports
$9.4B reached 21,684 recreation and sports organizations across the 2022 and 2023 filings. The money concentrates: the few largest organizations draw a heavy share of it.
The short version
- $9.4B in tracked US grants reached 21,684 recreation and sports organizations across the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings.
- The single largest recipient, Northwestern University, drew $907M, 10% of all tracked recreation and sports funding.
- The most committed funder is Special Olympics Inc, which gives 53.6× the national rate, with 99% of its grants going to recreation and sports.
- Most recreation and sports money lands on organizations in Illinois, 11% of the tracked total.
Funders most focused on recreation and sports
Not the biggest checks, the most committed. Each funder's share of giving to recreation and sports, against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank. The multiple is how many times the national rate it gives.
Organizations that draw the most
The recreation and sports organizations receiving the most grant money, sized by dollars. Pick one to see who funds it.
Where the money lands
The states whose organizations draw the most recreation and sports money.
Largest funders of recreation and sports
Funders by organization size
Who funds recreation and sports organizations at each size, with the funders most focused on them. Useful if you are small and the big-institution funders are not a fit.
Questions and answers
- What counts as recreation and sports in this data?
- Each organization is grouped by its NTEE code in the IRS Business Master File, the recipient's own cause classification. Recreation and sports covers every organization the IRS places in that major group, and grants are counted by where the money lands.
- What is the difference between the largest and the most committed funders of recreation and sports?
- The largest by dollars are National Collegiate Athletic Association and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, but they spread money across many causes. The most committed concentrate on recreation and sports: Special Olympics Inc gives 53.6× the national rate, with 99% of its grants going there.
- How can a recreation and sports nonprofit find funders?
- Look beyond the biggest names to the specialists, the funders giving recreation and sports an outsized share of their budget, and to the states where recreation and sports money concentrates, led by Illinois. Both are listed on this page.
- How recent is this recreation and sports funding data?
- It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.
More from the funding graph
Cause is the organization's NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File. Grant figures are read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, among recipients resolved by EIN. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.