Indiana · Nonprofit
ASCENT 121 INC
ASCENT 121 INC (Indiana) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,136,503 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($817,875). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $2.1M
- Net assets
- $1.4M
What Ascent 121 Inc does
Mission
The primary purpose of the agency shall be I) to provide financial and other assistance for the health, educational, psychological, emotional and welfare needs of individuals in crisis situations, with an emphasis on those who have been involved in human trafficking, ii) to provide financial and other assistance for the welfare needs of individuals who have been in the legal system, iii) to provide financial and other assistance to other tax exempt organizations that are serving populations of human trafficking, poverty, social disenfranchisement, illiteracy and food insecurity, iv) to assist, enable and facilitate tax exempt organizations with similar missions, v) to empower volunteers and donors to share resources for the charitable, educational, and scientific purposes of the agency.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Survivor services:ascent 121 provides mental health and other recovery services for indiana teen survivors of human trafficking. We offer options including diagnostic & evaluation services, mental health and family preservation services, case management services for survivors and their families. Referrals come from the indiana department of child services as well as other sources. The agency serves over 100 children annually. Ascent 121 is accredited by the evangelical council for financial accountability (ecfa), the indiana behavioral health and human services board, and was the winner of the fbi director's community leadership award for exemplary service to the community.community education:ascent 121 raises awareness in the community through approximately 75 public events each year at schools, churches, civic organizations and businesses.discipleship:optional discipleship is offered for the youth in our programs.consulting services:ascent 121 provides training and support for other agencies and individuals working with survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
$1,106,622 spent$810,352 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,106,622.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2022 to 2023, from $1.3M to $2.0M (+52%).
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 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of ASCENT 121 INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Megan Mcguire
CEO
Board chair
Louise Lombard
Board president
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $64k → $933k.
6 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 ASCENT 121 INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 funders by total. 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
ASCENT 121 INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 62%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
39% 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 ASCENT 121 INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 59% · 2018 54% · 2019 51% · 2020 37% · 2021 25% · 2022 32% · 2023 82% — growing more concentrated.
“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
47% of ASCENT 121 INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
88% of ASCENT 121 INC's grant income comes from Indiana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $512k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
ASCENT 121 INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,274 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,274 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding ASCENT 121 INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $645k on record.
- Department of Justice$645k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like ASCENT 121 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 Indiana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
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 ASCENT 121 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 ASCENT 121 INC?
- ASCENT 121 INC (Indiana) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,136,503 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($817,875). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ASCENT 121 INC have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $2,136,503 in grants to ASCENT 121 INC, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ASCENT 121 INC?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $817,875 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ASCENT 121 INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Indiana. 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 Ascent 121 →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 33 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing