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Special Kids Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Special Kids Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$200k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$793kYouth Development$150kEmployment$111kHuman Services$110kEducation$100kArts & Culture$99kRecreation & Sports$57kEnvironment$48kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $190k
$25,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$3.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Helping Hand$35,306
The Chicago Lighthouse$35,000
The Kids Equipment Network$30,000
Search Inc$25,000
Special Gifts Theatre$25,000
Oak Leydon Developmental Services$23,269
Parents Alliance Employment Project$16,660
Esperanza Community Services$6,415
Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago$3,350
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $267k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 82% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MARKLUND: $22k → 8%KIDS EQUIPMENT NETWORK: $25k → 7%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $35k → 14%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $35k → 14%The Chicago Lighthouse: $35k → 14%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $35k → 14%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $35k → 14%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $35k → 14%CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES: $10k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 20 repeat orgs$200k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
11

Total granted

$1.3M
$193k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+24%

Still filing today

65%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthEmploymentEducationArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED
    6× · 2018–2025 · $210k · revenue +46%
  • PA
    PARENTS ALLIANCE EMPLOYMENT PROJECT
    5× · 2017–2025 · $111k · revenue +187%
  • CF
    Center for Independence through Conductive Education Inc
    5× · 2018–2024 · $100k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • OD
    OAK-LEYDEN DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICESSS
    one grant, 2020 · $31k
  • ES
    EASTER SEALS DUPAGE AND THE FOX
    one grant, 2018 · $28k
  • ES
    EASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX VALLEY REGION
    one grant, 2017 · $26k · revenue +24%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Austin Special Chicago

To provide for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Education
2
Cerebral Palsy Inc

Celebrating all abilities and unlocking potential.

Health
3
Giant Steps Illinois Inc

Giant Steps Illinois, Inc. is committed to providing individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and their families, superior educational and therapeutic services focused on improving the quality of daily life from early chilldhood through…

Education
4
Center for Disability Services

Assisting individuals with developmental disabilities, socialization skills, housing, living skills, and respite care.

—
5
Children's Therapy & Early Education School Inc

Provide therapy and early childhood special education for developmentally delayed and/or disabled children

—
6
Living Well Disability Services

Living Well Disability Services transforms the lives of people impacted by disabilities through the delivery of exceptional services.

—
7
Children's Developmental Center

The organization empowers familities and improves children's lives through comprehensive early intervention services, education, and therapeutic services. the organization primarily offers services to children from birth to three years…

Education
8
Child Development Center Inc

The Child Development Center is a developmental day center designed to build the independence of exceptional children through high-quality early education and therapeutic services. It serves special needs children ages 2 to 5 from New…

Education
9
Exceptional Kids Inc

Provide high quality educational, vocational, recreational and residential services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Health
10
Autism Services Inc

To provide cost-effective residential, social, intellectual, physical and vocational services to individuals with autism in group homes and in home support.

—
11
United Rehabilitation Services of Greater Dayton

To provide child and adult day services, vocational, therapy and support services for individuals with acquired or developmental disabilities or other special needs, and their families.

—
12
Center for Developmental Disabilities

The center's mission is to help children and adults with differing abilities achieve their dreams by overcoming barriers to living, working, learning & enjoying recreational opportunities in the community of their choice.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Kids Equipment Network Nfp. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

21 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 21 of the 32 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
17/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE KIDS EQUIPMENT NETWORK: $120,000 · OtherTHE KIDS EQUIPMENT NETWORKOAK LEYDEN DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES INC: $86,269 · OtherOAK LEYDEN DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES INCSearch Inc: $65,000 · OtherSearch IncSOUTH SUBURBAN SPECIAL RECREATION: $50,000 · OtherSOUTH SUBURBAN SPECIAL RECREATIONCHILDREN'S RESEARCH TRIANGLE: $49,500 · OtherCHILDREN'S RESEARCH TRIANGLEHelping Hand: $49,107 · OtherHelping HandEASTER SEAS OF DUPAGE: $48,000 · OtherEASTER SEAS OF DUPAGETHE NORA PROJECT: $44,150 · OtherTHE NORA PROJECTTHE CENTER FOR ENRICHED LIVING INC: $40,000 · OtherTHE CENTER FOR ENRICHED LIVING INCASPIRS: $39,050 · OtherOAK-LEYDEN DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICESSS: $31,000 · OtherESPERANZA: $30,000 · OtherEASTER SEALS DUPAGE AND THE FOX: $27,500 · Other+6 more: $58,841 · Other+6 moreTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $210,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOU…THE KIDS EQUIPMENT NETWORK NFP: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE KIDS EQUIPMENT N…MARKLUND CHILDRENS HOME: $22,128 · Human ServicesMARKLUND CHILDRENS H…CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES: $10,000 · Human ServicesPARENTS ALLIANCE EMPLOYMENT PROJECT: $111,211 · EmploymentPARENTS ALL…HAVE DREAMS: $43,750 · EmploymentHAVE DREAMSLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $76,913 · HealthLa Rabida…EASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX VALLEY REGION: $26,000 · HealthEASTER SE…OUR PLACE OF NEW TRIER TOWNSHIP: $10,000 · HealthOUR PLACE…EASTER SEALS METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $7,630 · HealthEASTER SE…Center for Independence through Conductive Education Inc: $100,000 · EducationSPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN: $90,490 · Arts & CultureJEWISH COUNCIL FOR YOUTH SERVICES: $30,000 · Youth Development
Other$738,417Human Services$267,128Employment$154,961Health$120,543Education$100,000Arts & Culture$90,490Youth Development$30,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $210,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPARENTS ALLIANCE EMPLOYMENT PROJECT: $111,211 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetCenter for Independence through Conductive Education Inc: $100,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetSPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN: $90,490 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetOAK LEYDEN DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES INC: $86,269 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $76,913 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSearch Inc: $65,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S RESEARCH TRIANGLE: $49,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetTHE NORA PROJECT: $44,150 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetHAVE DREAMS: $43,750 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR ENRICHED LIVING INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetJEWISH COUNCIL FOR YOUTH SERVICES: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX VALLEY REGION: $26,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE KIDS EQUIPMENT NETWORK NFP: $25,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetMARKLUND CHILDRENS HOME: $22,128 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPACTT Learning Center: $11,400 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetOUR PLACE OF NEW TRIER TOWNSHIP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetImagination Theater Inc: $8,600 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetEASTER SEALS METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $7,630 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetESPERANZA COMMUNITY SERVICES: $6,415 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Coleman Foundatio…The Chicago Community…AbbVie FoundationThe Service Club of C…George M Eisenberg Fo…Circle of Service Fou…Baird Foundation IncCarl R Hendrickson Fa…United Way of Metropo…Baxter International …Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Bank of America C…
The Coleman Foundation IncIL24.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Coleman Foundation Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · AbbVie Foundation · The Service Club of Chicago · George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities · Circle of Service Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Carl R Hendrickson Family Fdn · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Baxter International Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Special Kids Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Special Kids Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Special Kids Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Special Kids Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 32 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Special Kids’ filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home