Colorado · Nonprofit
BIG WAVES INC
BIG WAVES INC (Colorado) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $59,883 to it, the largest being DANIELS FUND ($25,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $200k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $60k
- Net assets
- $589k
What Big Waves Inc does
Mission
Our mission is to encourage positive mind and body health by providing opportunity and outlet for young athletes to participate in water polo with the intention that this space creates a healthy environment for young athletes to feel and process different emotions. Our vision is to provide a constructive outlet for youth to overcome difficult emotions in order to process them in a healthy way. In doing this,big waves intends on further impacting legislation around mental health and gun violence.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
This year big waves finished the year with milestones to both celebrate and reflect upon. This december marks our 7th year as an organization, which we celebrate. The determination and perseverance of our board members, community, and volunteers continues to amaze me. Big waves continues to push forward and strengthen the communities it serves and strives to make them safer for all. We continue to expand existing programs and make strides in the development of new programs. Here are just some of our accomplishments from 2025: - three community blood drives that generated 97 units of blood helping as many as 194 people - awarded 35,000 in scholarships to seven student recipients towards secondary education - supported youth water polo programming in colorado with fees assistance and volunteer hours - funded youth gun safety training classes educating 80+ youth in new jersey - shipped 750+ free gun locks to responsible gun owners across the county - donated 100+ gun locks to organizations, educators, and medical providers across the country - volunteered 100's of hours supporting colorado high school youth it is wonderful to see the number continue to grow year over year all of this…
$48,990 spentof which $35,000 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $48,990.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $406k (+45%).
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: 2021 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
34% of BIG WAVES INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (18% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $5k → $2k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 27% 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 BIG WAVES 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
BIG WAVES INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
27% 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 BIG WAVES INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 51% · 2023 92% — 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.
Where its funders are
89% of BIG WAVES INC's grant income comes from Colorado funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $16k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
BIG WAVES INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 15,520 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 15,520 recreation & sports nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like BIG WAVES 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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
48%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BIG WAVES 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 BIG WAVES INC?
- BIG WAVES INC (Colorado) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $59,883 to it, the largest being DANIELS FUND ($25,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BIG WAVES INC have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $59,883 in grants to BIG WAVES INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BIG WAVES INC?
- DANIELS FUND is the largest funder on record, with $25,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BIG WAVES INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 2019–2024), and the filings of 6 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