North Carolina · Nonprofit
Dream On 3
Dream On 3 (North Carolina) receives grants from 50 organizations whose IRS filings report $765,091 to it, the largest being WCNC CANNON CHARITABLE TRUST ($90,000). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.0M
- Funders on record
- 50
- Grants received
- $765k
- Net assets
- $422k
What Dream On 3 does
Mission
To make dreams come true for children with chronic illness, development disabilities, or life-altering conditions by creating experiences of joy and magic through the world of sports.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Dream Experience - Program serves individuals living with chronic illnesses, intellectual or developmental disabilities or life-altering conditions. Recipients between the ages of 5 and 21 receive a fully customized, VIP experience built around their interests and their ultimate sports dream. Dream On 3 unites the healthcare, business, and sports communities to create these over-the-top experiences. To date we have served over 240 Dream Recipients and their families.
$1,372,268 spent$659,733 earned by the program65% of program spendingCollegiate Dream Teams - Groups of student leaders that are passionate about helping others in their community work alongside Dream On 3 to plan, market, fundraise, and ultimately fulfill the Dream Experience of an individual living with a life-altering medical condition. Teams consist of 15-20 students from each college. CDT members gain a wealth of real-world career and hands-on experience such as leadership development, team building, and community engagement all while helping someone in their community. The program develops work-related skills such as marketing, branding, public relations, social media, fundraising, donor relations, non-profit management, event planning, and more. We have worked with hundreds of students that have served on 47 CDT teams across various college campuses.
$438,270 spent$232,051 earned by the program21% of program spendingJr. Dream Team - The Jr. Dream Team program helps student leaders plan, fundraise, and rally the school to support a fellow classmate living with a life-altering condition. Students work with faculty members and Dream On 3 staff to rally the entire high school in support of their Dream Recipient. Dream On 3 has found that when entire school and supporting community unite in the spirit of inclusion, the result is life-changing. We have worked with hundreds of students on 30 Jr Dream Teams across various high schools.
$96,557 spent$84,855 earned by the program5% of program spendingAlumni - Our Dream Kids are like family, so our relationship with them extends well past their initial Dream Experiences. Our alumni events are opportunities to reconnect with families and for them to connect with one another much like a family reunion. The Nicholas Thornton Scholarship Fundwas created in honor of our dear friend, Nicholas Thornton. Nicholas was a kind and loving 11-year-old boy who we lost in 2014. His life and values inspired us so much, we wanted his legacy to live on through the lives of our Dream Kids.
$87,947 spentof which $39,500 as grants4% of program spendingDay Dreams - Our Day Dream program serves a larger group of children at an in-person sporting event. We partner with athletes and sports organizations to offer an exclusive, one-time opportunity. Recipients are identified through our referral partners in each chapter area.
$83,238 spent$9,500 earned by the program4% of program spendingDreamBoxes - The DreamBox program matches community sponsors with children that are confined to their home or hospital rooms. Dream On 3 partners with childrens hospitals for referrals of patients that would benefit from an over-the-top, VIP DreamBox. The items in the box are specifically tailored to the interests of the child based on an application process completed by the family. Boxes are delivered directly to the recipients home or hospital room, bringing a much-needed smile to a young Dreamer. We have created and delivered more than 325 DreamBoxes across our communities.
$35,896 spent$3,404 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,114,176.
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 2022 to 2023, from $751k to $1.6M (+112%).
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 0% · 2020 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of Dream On 3’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (51% 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.
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
Ben Allred
CEO
Board chair
Meghan Huffman
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $26k → $111k.
10 of 50 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 Dream On 3’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 50 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
Dream On 3 has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
53% 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 Dream On 3.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 61% · 2019 36% · 2020 44% · 2021 30% · 2022 23% · 2023 22% — 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
29% of Dream On 3's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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
51% of Dream On 3's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $194k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
Dream On 3 has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,665 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,665 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Dream On 3
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
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 Dream On 3: 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 Dream On 3?
- Dream On 3 (North Carolina) receives grants from 50 organizations whose IRS filings report $765,091 to it, the largest being WCNC CANNON CHARITABLE TRUST ($90,000). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Dream On 3 have?
- IRS filings report 50 organizations giving $765,091 in grants to Dream On 3, 23 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Dream On 3?
- WCNC CANNON CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $90,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Dream On 3 find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Dream On 3 →
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 50 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