Illinois · Nonprofit
Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc
Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,748,726 to it, the largest being JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ($2,643,333). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 82% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.2M
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $3.7M
- Net assets
- $4.0M
What Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc does
Mission
The Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago (herein after referred to as ECAC) is a not-for-profit, non-political, tax-exempt organization committed to serving the educational, cultural, psychological, and socio-economic needs of Ethiopians in Chicago land and the surrounding areas. ECAC also responds to the needs of other similarly situated groups who might seek its services. ECAC endeavors to facilitate the overall adjustment, stability, growth and development of its constituency. ECACs mission is charitable and educational.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Individual Counseling and Adjustment:Resettlement, placement and adjustment services - Refugee placement, counseling, adjustment, and case management services are provided to refugees, asylees, and other immigrants to facilitate opportunities to build new lives in the United States. The program includes reception at the airport, placement in affordable housing, cultural orientation, facilitating access to essential public support and health screening, case management, referrals needed to additional services, as well as cultural adjustment, and several other activities.English as a Second Language (ESL) - Basic and vocational English language education provided to newly arrived refugees and immigrants.Citizenship and Immigration Services - ECAC helps prepare refugees and immigrants to become U.S. citizens by offering free citizenship classes, assisting in the education, and filing application forms.Developing Ethiopian Cultural Museum - ECAC aspires to develop the Ethiopian Museum in Chicago and has collected hundreds of pieces of artifacts working toward establishing a museum that will promote the cultures, traditions , and history of the diverse people of Ethiopia and contribute…
$4,223,292 spent83% of program spendingThe Employment Assistance Program at the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago provides refugees and immigrants with the support they need to find employment and become self-sufficient. We assist clients in honing essential job-search skills, including resume writing, networking, and interview preparation. We offer a wide range of job training programs, including English language classes, cultural orientation, and other valuable skill-building opportunities. We provide ongoing support to clients, even after they have found a job. This can include help with adjusting to the workplace and resolving workplace conflicts.
$789,473 spent16% of program spendingChildren Youth & Mentorship Programs serve children and youth ages 6 to 13. These programs encompass a broad range of focus areas, including:Academic Support:Providing homework assistance, tutoring, and enrichment activities to reinforce learning outside of regular school hours. Mentoring:Connecting youth with positive role models who offer guidance, encouragement, and support.Positive Youth Development:Fostering social and emotional skills, character development, and resilience. Arts and Culture:Offering creative outlets such as music, dance, theater, and visual arts.Sports and Recreation:Engaging youth in physical activities, team sports, and outdoor adventures.
$65,144 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,077,909.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2023 to 2024, from $2.2M to $3.4M (+56%).
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: 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
11% of Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $55k → $325k.
5 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 82% 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 Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 15 of 16 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
Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 71% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
87% 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 Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 54% · 2019 61% · 2020 70% · 2021 100% · 2022 49% · 2023 81% — growing more concentrated.
“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
25% of Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
82% of Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc'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 $681k that is directly attributable, 68% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc
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
97% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
36%
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 Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc: 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 Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc?
- Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,748,726 to it, the largest being JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ($2,643,333). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 82% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $3,748,726 in grants to Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc?
- JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO is the largest funder on record, with $2,643,333 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago Inc 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 Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 16 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