Massachusetts · Nonprofit
ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC
ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $863,339 to it, the largest being Rodman For Kids Inc ($443,251). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $97k
- Funders on record
- 30
- Grants received
- $863k
- Net assets
- $409k
What Above the Clouds Inc does
Mission
Above the clouds, incs mission is to bring joy and hope to seriously ill, disabled, and disadvantaged children and teens through the wonder of small aircraft flight. The organization accomplishes its mission through its principal programs: dream flyers and discovery flyers, our volunteer pilots and volunteers operate out of norwood airport, norwood,ma
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Dream flyers program: a special way to bring joy and hope to seriously ill, disabled, and underprivileged children. Dream flyers also benefits children who are disabled or underprivileged or who have suffered the loss of a loved one. Each child is paired with a pilot, flight coordinator and photographer. The dream flyer is escorted into the pre-flight briefing room where they learn about the basics of flight and what to expect after take-off. The pilot and flyer are escorted to the ramp, complete a full pre-flight check of the airplane, and taxi for takeoff, following a path developed with the flyer. If the flyer wished, and the pilot feels its safe and appropriate, they are able to take the controls and fly the plane. After landing and returning to the airport, the flyer is presented with a personalized flight jacket and a pair of avaitors. The entire day is recorded professionally in photo and video.
$27,057 spent68% of program spendingIn the discovery flyers program, teenagers are introduced to aviation by discovery pilot mentors. Discovery flyers have the opportunity to fly regularly with their discovery pilots. The young flyers are given the opportunity to fly the plane from the co-pilots seat. Discovery flyers attend periodic aviation field trips and are encouraged to help out on dream flight days.
$6,509 spent16% of program spendingCadet flyers programs is a program designed to introduce at-risk youth from underrepresented communities to all facets of aviation.
$6,509 spent16% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $40,075.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $281k to $346k (+23%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 19% · 2021 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (100% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Marcy Venezia
Incoming exec. Director
Board chair
Greg Bongiorno
President/chairman exec. Comm
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $110k → $146k.
7 of 30 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
69% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 81% · 2018 61% · 2019 81% · 2020 54% · 2021 45% · 2022 31% · 2023 67% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
25% of ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
75% of ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $132k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 14,851 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 14,851 human services nonprofits under $100k, FY2024
Organizations like ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC?
- ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $863,339 to it, the largest being Rodman For Kids Inc ($443,251). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC have?
- IRS filings report 30 organizations giving $863,339 in grants to ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC?
- Rodman For Kids Inc is the largest funder on record, with $443,251 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ABOVE THE CLOUDS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Above the Clouds →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 30 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing