California · Nonprofit
Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco
Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,894 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($44,065). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $140k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $57k
- Net assets
- $221k
What Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco does
Mission
To improve the lives of at-risk individuals in the communities we serve by serving as true ambassadors of goodwill. We inspire, entertain, and amaze audiences through powerful performances while challenging others to be their best and supporting organizations that strengthen our communities. We are an adult, all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable organization supporting beneficiaries that assist those living with HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, and other life-challenging conditions.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Program
CHEER San Francisco, the Official Cheer Team of the City and County of San Francisco, has been thrilling crowds locally, nationally, and internationally for the last 37 years with a unique brand of high-energy performances. This all-volunteer group is dedicated not only to providing polished entertainment but also to the philanthropic mission of the squad, serving as true ambassadors of goodwill to the communities in which we perform.The core team of 60 individuals works together with about 40 additional volunteers to develop cutting-edge cheerleading shows for annual events like the Castro Street Fair in the fall and Pride parades and festivals in the spring and summer. Throughout the year, CHEER SF enjoys the challenge of preparing for corporate events, community fundraisers, private parties, and more. Our charitable cheerleading efforts are a year-round labor of love that we embrace and cherish.Achievements & Accolades: CHEER SF has achieved immense success in our 37-year history. Our performances have touched millions of people around the world, and our fundraising has impacted the lives of thousands with life-challenging conditions. In return, we are honored and humbled by…
$82,215 spentof which $36,500 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $82,215.
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 2024 to 2025, from $199k to $263k (+32%).
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.
66% of Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $3k → $16k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% 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 Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco’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
Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco leans on a few funders — its largest provides 77% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
94% 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 Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 99% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 92% · 2021 75% · 2022 53% · 2023 98% — broadly stable.
“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
80% of Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $11k that is directly attributable, 94% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $46k 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
Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,237 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,237 philanthropy nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco
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.
Public support
99%
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 Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco: 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 Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco?
- Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,894 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($44,065). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $56,894 in grants to Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $44,065 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco 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.
Play a game about who funds Cheer for Life Foundation Inc DBA CHEER San Francisco →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), 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