Illinois · Nonprofit
CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY
CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY (Illinois) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,703,714 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC ($305,396). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 28
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $1.9M
What Children's Advocacy Center of North & Northwest Cook County does
Mission
Cac's mission is to empower children to overcome trauma from physical and sexual violence through empathetic collaboration and culturally sensitive services for the victims and their families. From the forensic interview to the last therapy session, cac provides comprehensive services to ensure that our clients are building resiliency in order to live healthier lives.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Uses a multidisciplinary team approach working with law enforcement, dcfs and the state's attorney's office for case coordination, forensic interviews, victim advocacy and mental health services for children ages 0-17 who are victims or witnesses to violent crime and their non-offending family members. Over 400 forensic interviews were conducted and a total of 1,800 clients served annually.
$647,405 spent$72,868 earned by the program50% of program spendingProvided evidence based trauma thearpy services to chldren 6-17 who have symptoms of acute or post traumatic stress steming from abuse or other forms of violence.
$402,386 spent31% of program spendingSpecialized program for children 0-5 and their non offending caregiver who have been exposed to violence; early intervention is key.
$245,068 spent19% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,294,859.
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 $1.6M to $2.3M (+42%).
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 41% · 2018 55% · 2019 62% · 2021 79% · 2022 70% · 2023 65% · 2024 67% · 2025 53%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
74% of CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (93% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Melanie Pignotti
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $122k → $224k.
8 of 28 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY’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
CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
69% 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 CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 73% · 2018 42% · 2019 34% · 2020 20% · 2021 20% · 2022 29% · 2023 38% — 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
53% of CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
67% of CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $476k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 793 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY: 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 CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY?
- CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY (Illinois) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,703,714 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC ($305,396). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY have?
- IRS filings report 28 organizations giving $1,703,714 in grants to CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY?
- UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC is the largest funder on record, with $305,396 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF NORTH & NORTHWEST COOK COUNTY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Children's Advocacy Center of North & Northwest Cook County →
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 28 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