Ohio · Nonprofit
DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION
DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION (Ohio) receives grants from 134 organizations whose IRS filings report $94,134,826 to it, the largest being BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC ($47,428,077). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $62M
- Funders on record
- 134
- Grants received
- $94M
- Net assets
- $109M
What Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption does
Mission
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national nonprofit public charity dedicated exclusively to finding permanent homes for more than 150,000 children waiting in north america's foster care systems. See schedule o for additional narrative on the organization's mission.created by wendy's founder dave thomas, who was adopted, the foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and innovative grantmaking initiatives, and offers free resources to organizations and prospective parents.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Wendy's wonderful kids:wendy's wonderful kids, a signature program of the foundation, is making a difference for thousands of children across the nation - one child at a time. The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption awards grants to public and private agencies to hire adoption professionals who implement an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment strategy targeted exclusively on moving america's longest-waiting children from foster care into adoptive families. See schedule o for additional narrative on wendy's wonderful kids.research released in 2011 from a five-year rigorous evaluation of wendy's wonderful kids child-focused recruitment model showed that children served by the program are up to three times more likely to get adopted. Wendy's wonderful kids recruiters work with children and youth at greatest risk of aging out of foster care without an adoptive family. The recruiters have smaller caseloads, to ensure they have the time and resources to give each child the attention that child deserves and employ an aggressive evidence-based practice model focused on finding the best home for a child.the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption supports 529 wendy's wonderful kids…
$35,098,952 spentof which $28,518,071 as grants80% of program spendingAdoption awareness & advocacy:the foundation is committed to nationally communicating the urgency of foster care adoption and to encouraging everyone to become an ambassador for waiting children. Year-round awareness efforts include daily social media communications; marketing programs dispelling myths and misperceptions surrounding the issue of foster care adoption and the children waiting to be adopted; the development and distribution of free educational resources; the production of national television announcements; see schedule o for additional narrative on program grants & awareness.media engagement and thought leader speaking and keynote opportunities; and participation in a number of events across the united states. Additionally, since 2002, the foundation has commissioned several groundbreaking studies to measure americans' perceptions of foster care adoption.in addition to funding wendy's wonderful kids grants, resources generated by the foundation help to award strategic national grants to adoption agencies and organizations that share the foundation's mission. These grants provide critical foster care adoption services and support, promote best practices in foster care…
$7,113,248 spentof which $1,846,608 as grants$151,345 earned by the program16% of program spendingPost adoption:robust post-adoption services are critical for many families who adopt from foster care and other venues. The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption has developed a free resource booklet, "a step-by-step guide to post-adoption" for distribution that defines the types of resources available for parents after an adoption is finalized, how to select and locate providers, and what to do if resources do not exist in their communities. It also includes recommendations of other national non-profit organizations that can help. See schedule o for additional narrative on program grants & awareness.in addition, the foundation has funded the center for adoption support and education (burtonsville, md) to support the continued expansion of a training for adoption-competent mental health providers; has funded families rising to provide advocacy and legislation around adoption tax credits and subsidies to support families post-adoption; has funded adoptee mentoring society to support a mentoring program for adoptees and; funded adopt america network, adoptive and foster family coalition of new york, aid to adoption of special kids, lund family center, caring for kids, children's…
$1,212,003 spentof which $1,200,000 as grants3% of program spendingOther programs:adoption-friendly workplace:expenses $384,677 including grants of $0 revenue $0in 1990, president george h.w. Bush asked dave thomas, founder of wendy's, to be the spokesperson for a new adoption initiative. Dave, an adoptee and adoption advocate, enthusiastically accepted the challenge and began to speak out publicly, asking people to consider foster care adoption and encouraging other business leaders to offer adoption as a part of their employee benefit plans. Adoption-friendly workplace was developed to keep dave thomas' work in motion. This signature program offers free toolkits and expert guidance to employers across the nation. The goal is to provide companies with the tools and support needed to set up and provide their employees adoption benefits, including financial reimbursement and paid leave. The foundation compiles and publishes an annual list of the nation's 100 best adoption-friendly workplaces list and highlights the forward-thinking employers that have adoption benefits in place.national adoption month and day:expenses $54,572 including grants of $0 revenue $0november is national adoption awareness month, a time to celebrate and raise awareness…
$439,249 spent1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $43,863,452.
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 $65M to $82M (+26%).
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 12% · 2018 12% · 2019 20% · 2020 23% · 2021 18% · 2022 21% · 2023 24% · 2024 25% · 2025 20%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (25% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Rita L Soronen
President & CEO
Board chair
Robert Geen
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 53 funders, grant income rose $8.8M → $11M.
32 of 134 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% 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 DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 134 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
DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
95% 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 DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 92% · 2018 91% · 2019 82% · 2020 62% · 2021 83% · 2022 68% · 2023 79% — 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
49% of DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION draws 90% of its grant income from funders outside Ohio, across 28 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $36M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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
DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 102 unclassified nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 102 unclassified nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
77%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 30 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption Canada · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION: 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 DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION?
- DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION (Ohio) receives grants from 134 organizations whose IRS filings report $94,134,826 to it, the largest being BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC ($47,428,077). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION have?
- IRS filings report 134 organizations giving $94,134,826 in grants to DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION, 67 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION?
- BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC is the largest funder on record, with $47,428,077 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 134 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