Iowa · Nonprofit
CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS
CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS (Iowa) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $224,201 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF STORY COUNTY INC ($197,299). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $13M
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $224k
- Net assets
- $-3637348
What Childserve Community Options does
Mission
We partner with families to help children with special health care needs live a great life.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Childserve respite gives families a break from daily demands of caring for a child with special health care needs. Respite is provided in the children's homes and in the community. In the current fiscal year, childserve respite provided services for 465 children with special health care needs and provided an average of 8,231 hours of respite service each month.
$2,327,393 spentof which $26,880 as grants$3,669,328 earned by the program26% of program spendingChildserve childcare provides a unique childcare experience for ames and des moines area children with and without special health care needs. In the current fiscal year, childserve childcare served 205 children.
$1,875,762 spentof which $34,630 as grants$2,140,287 earned by the program21% of program spendingChildserve autism day program integrates medical, developmental therapy, and psychosocial clinicians with paraprofessionals that are specially trained to provide personal care and support to children with autism spectrum disorder. Childserve autism day program provided 99,635 hours of service to 136 children.
$1,529,261 spentof which $13,926 as grants$2,404,152 earned by the program17% of program spendingChildserve medical childcare service is a goal-oriented day service that supports children with chronic medical conditions and developmental disabilities. Childserve medical childcare provided 64,738 hours of service to 83 children. Expenses $1,180,739. Including grants of $9,341. Revenue $1,586,558 childserve supported community living (scl) assists children and young adults in developing and maintaining socialization, communication, independence, and daily living skills. In the current fiscal year, childserve scl provided individual services to 201 children, averaging 2,331 hours of service per month. Expenses $914,260. Including grants of $4,093 . Revenue $1,376,070. Childserve case management assesses the needs of polk county children with special health care needs for the purpose of assisting them in obtaining services, funding and developing an individualized care plan and then monitoring the implementation of that plan. During the current fiscal year, childserve case management served 164 children ages birth to 22 years. Expenses $1,211,673. Including grants of $1,824. Revenue $776,808.
$3,306,672 spentof which $15,258 as grants$3,739,436 earned by the program37% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,039,088.
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 2021 to 2022, from $3.7M to $2.1M (−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: 2020 1% · 2021 9% · 2022 18% · 2023 9% · 2024 8% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
8% of CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 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
Teri Wahlig
CEO
Board chair
Jim Hagenbucher
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $19k → $37k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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: $2.4M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Childserve Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS raised.
From the IRS filings of CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS’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
CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 88% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 82% — 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
100% of CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS's grant income comes from Iowa funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $27k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 328 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 328 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS
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 Iowa
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 9 related entities
- ChildServe Habilitation Center Inc · exempt
- ChildServe Homes Inc · exempt
- ChildServe Medical Equipment & Supply Inc · exempt
- ChildServe Therapy Inc · exempt
- ChildServe Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS: 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 CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS?
- CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS (Iowa) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $224,201 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF STORY COUNTY INC ($197,299). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $224,201 in grants to CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS?
- UNITED WAY OF STORY COUNTY INC is the largest funder on record, with $197,299 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHILDSERVE COMMUNITY OPTIONS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Iowa. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 2 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