Florida · Nonprofit
Best Buddies International Inc
Best Buddies International Inc (Florida) receives grants from 856 organizations whose IRS filings report $50,872,314 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,938,086). 390 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $48M
- Funders on record
- 856
- Grants received
- $51M
- Net assets
- $39M
What Best Buddies International Inc does
Mission
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Best Buddies International Friendship Programs build one-to-one friendships between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) through six unique programs: Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens, and e-Buddies. Best Buddies has grown from a single college program, started at Georgetown University in 1989, and has grown to 3,738 global chapters and is active in 46 countries.Best Buddies School Programs: Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, High Schools, and Colleges Through our school-based programs, Best Buddies creates an inclusive community for students with IDD, helping them become socially integrated with their peers at every age. Through their participation, people with IDD form meaningful connections with their peers, gain self-confidence and self-esteem, and share interests, experiences, and activities that enhance their educational experience. Elementary Schools: Launched in 2022, Best Buddies Elementary Schools builds connections and community between young students with and without IDD through inclusive activities and social-emotional learning tolls that promote one-to-one friendship, acceptance, and…
$27,308,301 spentof which $292,730 as grants$508,972 earned by the program73% of program spendingBest Buddies LivingThe Best Buddies Living program fosters an integrated experience for people with and without IDD to become active, contributing citizens who live independently in a dynamic environment where they can learn, grow, and thrive. Best Buddies is currently operating Living residences in the following markets: Washington, D.C. (2); Miami, Florida; Los Angeles, California; and Atlanta, Georgia; Gainesville, Florida; State College, Pennsylvania; and New Brunswick, New Jersey; Nasheville, Tennessee; Boca Raton, Florida; and Clemson, South Carolina.Residents grow and change immensely as part of their connection to the mission of Best Buddies. Living and learning with their peers is a major component of this growth. By creating a mutually enriching housing model, we have made this journey even more meaningful by creating a truly one-of-a-kind inclusive residential experience for our Best Buddies participants.
$1,683,770 spent$744,542 earned by the program5% of program spendingBest Buddies JobsBest Buddies Jobs matches skilled, qualified individuals with IDD with businesses seeking enthusiastic and dedicated employees. Through the Jobs program, Best Buddies develops partnerships with employers, assists with the hiring process and provides ongoing support to the employee and the employer.
$8,060,253 spent$11,264 earned by the program22% of program spendingBest Buddies Family Support offers families the support and resources needed to navigate the journey of raising a child with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Eunie's BuddiesEunie's Buddies serves as the pioneering program within the Family Support initiative. Eunie's Buddies pairs experienced parents of a child with an IDD with new parents who are expecting, have just welcomed a baby, or are raising a child up to the age of eight years old who has been recently diagnosed with an IDD. This pairing creates a mentormentee connection and friendship. Eunie's Buddies provides a framework offering parents and caregivers encouragement, emotional support, and valuable resources. Participation in Eunie's Buddies helps families pave the way for a child with IDD to have an education, gainful employment, and a fulfilled life.
$290,237 spent$5,409 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $37,342,561.
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 2020 to 2021, from $22M to $35M (+56%).
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: 2017 24% · 2018 24% · 2019 29% · 2020 32% · 2021 43% · 2022 34% · 2023 35% · 2024 31%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of Best Buddies International Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (96% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Anthony K Shriver
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 150 funders to 268 funders, grant income rose $3.7M → $7.0M.
107 of 856 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $4.9M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Best Buddies Supporting Corporation); $200k from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Crimson Lion Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money Best Buddies International Inc raised.
From the IRS filings of Best Buddies International Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 856 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
Best Buddies International Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% of grant income, and it takes 16 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 16 funders to its left
60% 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 Best Buddies International Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 13% · 2018 16% · 2019 16% · 2020 16% · 2021 17% · 2022 12% · 2023 9% — 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
29% of Best Buddies International Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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
Best Buddies International Inc draws 76% of its grant income from funders outside Florida, across 42 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 34 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
Best Buddies International Inc runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 363 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 363 international nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding Best Buddies International Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $18.5M on record — $4.7M federal, $13.7M state.
- Department of Education$4.2M
- Department of State$294k
- Department of Labor$250k
- MA$8.7M
- MD$4.7M
- DE$323k
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 Best Buddies International 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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
85%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 50 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Inclusion LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Best Buddies International 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 Best Buddies International Inc?
- Best Buddies International Inc (Florida) receives grants from 856 organizations whose IRS filings report $50,872,314 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,938,086). 390 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Best Buddies International Inc have?
- IRS filings report 856 organizations giving $50,872,314 in grants to Best Buddies International Inc, 390 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Best Buddies International Inc?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $5,938,086 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Best Buddies International Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 856 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