California · Nonprofit
ELEVATE YOUR G A M E
ELEVATE YOUR G A M E (California) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,138,900 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($403,500). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $249k
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $1.1M
- Net assets
- $201k
What Elevate Your G a M E does
Mission
Motivating underserved urban youth to excel in their academics and character to empower them to be leaders who bring about positive changes in their schools, communities and the world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Mentoring Program: Mentored 300 underserved urban youth through its mentoring programs at six locations: Compton High School, Dominguez High School (Compton), Centennial High School (Compton), Poly PAAL (Long Beach), Reid High School (Long Beach) and Browning High School (Long Beach). Objectives achieved: Students were motivated to excel in their Grades, Attendance and Maturity to Empower them to be leaders. Ninety-five percent of the participants graduate from high school and enter post-high school education programs (college or technical school).
$147,876 spentof which $3,000 as grants$147,876 earned by the program74% of program spendingSummer Internship Program: Provided internships for 29 urban teenagers from Compton. Interns worked at job sites for 2 weeks and received eight hours of job training. Objectives achieved: Students were exposed to various careers and taught work ethnic and professionalism. Participating businesses included a recreation center, a law office, non-profit organizations, two universities, a government agency and privately owned businesses.
$18,653 spent$18,653 earned by the program9% of program spendingMental Health Component. A mental health clinician was hired (part-time) to teach the staff and volunteer mentors how to mentor their students in a way that helps them to develop and maintain good mental health. In addition, the mental health clinician had ongoing mental health therapy sessions with some of our first-year college students to counsel through their first-year college adjustments.
$32,610 spent$32,610 earned by the program16% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $199,139.
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 2018 to 2019, from $400k to $213k (−47%).
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% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 0% · 2021 0% · 2022 0% · 2023 10% · 2024 17% · 2025 27%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of ELEVATE YOUR G A M E’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (83% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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
Michael Freeman
Exec Director/Secretary
Board chair
Gipson Lyles III
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 5 funders, grant income held at $135k.
3 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 57% 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 ELEVATE YOUR G A M E’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
ELEVATE YOUR G A M E leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
78% 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 ELEVATE YOUR G A M E.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 38% · 2019 53% · 2020 48% · 2021 80% · 2022 29% · 2023 37% — 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 ELEVATE YOUR G A M E'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
57% of ELEVATE YOUR G A M E'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 $487k 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. $652k 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
ELEVATE YOUR G A M E holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,734 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,734 youth development nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like ELEVATE YOUR G A M E
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.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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 ELEVATE YOUR G A M E: 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 ELEVATE YOUR G A M E?
- ELEVATE YOUR G A M E (California) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,138,900 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($403,500). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ELEVATE YOUR G A M E have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $1,138,900 in grants to ELEVATE YOUR G A M E, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ELEVATE YOUR G A M E?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $403,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ELEVATE YOUR G A M E 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 Elevate Your G a M E →
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 14 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