California · Nonprofit
BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC
BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC (California) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $52,751,969 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($10,000,000). 61 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $42M
- Funders on record
- 138
- Grants received
- $53M
- Net assets
- $50M
What Blue Star Families Inc does
Mission
Blue star families is committed to connecting one another through the unique challenges of military service and asking the larger civilian population to help as well, strengthening military families regardless of rank, branch of service or physical location, and leading military family members towards opportunities to build strength in individuals, families and communities. We accomplish this through local chapter-based community events and by serving as a bridge between families and support and service organizations that are striving tohelp make military life more sustainable. Through outreach and involvement with national and local organizations, civilian communities and government entities, blue star families works hand in hand to share the pride of service, promote healthier families, aid in our military readiness and contribute to our country's strength.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Communities - blue star families, inc. Designs and delivers innovative programs that are geared for the military community. Spouse employment and the bsf careers program supports spouses through their career journey and provides opportunity for military spouses to develop networks and access employment and training resources. Blue star museums offers free admission to more than 2,000 museums across the country from memorial day through labor day each summer. Blue star books on bases donates books to military children, base libraries,department of defense schools, and military-impacted public schools and libraries around the world. Caregivers programming provides ongoing resources to build resiliency and the coping skills necessary to address the rigors of the caregivers' day-to-day lifestyle. Blue star families launched several physical chapters in locations around the country to provide support and resources directly to military families.
$9,658,286 spentof which $20,000 as grants65% of program spendingResearch and policy - blue star families, inc., as part of its central mission to connect, engage, and empower military families, conducts in-depth research on the issue that affect the military family community. Annual military lifestyle survey: the blue star families annual military family lifestyle survey (amfls) provides deep and valuable insight into the true costs of sustaining our nation's all-volunteer force and provides the vehicle for military families' voices to be heard by key decision-makers. White oak: the purpose of the white oak retreats is to encourage creative thinking and facilitate solutions that require collaboration both within and between the government, non-profit, and independent sectors in the military family space.
$2,292,915 spent15% of program spendingTechnology engagement - blue star families, inc. Leverages state of the art outreach and information channels to connect with military families around the world. Military families are engaged through our online resources, online webinars, online mentoring, virtual hang-outs,facebook live and streaming events, and, a variety of other technology points. This allows military families to access blue star families and its resources anywhere in the world.
$2,477,153 spent17% of program spendingCampaign for inclusion (cfi) - led by blue star families, rei is a multidimensional, cross-sector, collective-action effort to improve the service experiences of military families of color. This is accomplished through five impact areas - research & advocacy, training, leadership, collaboration, and community impact. The rei committee directs this effort to ensure that our country meets its obligation to deliver positive, fulfilling experiences to all families who serve.implementation of this program began in 2021. As an initial step in combating these inequities, blue star families has launched the deploy fellowship program (diversify and expand the pipeline of leaders for your military community). This program seeks to train a new cohort of racially diverse leaders for military service organizations and veteran service organizations through a one-year fellowship.
$496,254 spent3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $14,924,608.
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 2023 to 2024, from $31M to $51M (+64%).
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 3% · 2018 3% · 2019 2% · 2020 1% · 2021 13% · 2022 1% · 2023 4% · 2024 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% 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
Gwendolyn Bingham
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 49 funders, grant income rose $442k → $11M.
25 of 138 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 39% 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 BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 138 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
BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
49% 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 BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 38% · 2019 78% · 2020 26% · 2021 37% · 2022 71% · 2023 60% — 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
40% of BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% 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
BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC draws 67% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 25 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $20M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 270 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 270 public benefit nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $16.2M on record.
- Department of the Interior$11.8M
- Department of Veterans Affairs$3.0M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$1.4M
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 BLUE STAR FAMILIES 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 38 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLUE STAR FAMILIES 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 BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC?
- BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC (California) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $52,751,969 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($10,000,000). 61 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC have?
- IRS filings report 138 organizations giving $52,751,969 in grants to BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC, 61 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $10,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLUE STAR FAMILIES INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 138 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