Illinois · Nonprofit
GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC
GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC (Illinois) receives grants from 78 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,260,726 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,177,078). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $7.7M
- Funders on record
- 78
- Grants received
- $10M
- Net assets
- $5.6M
What Gigi's Playhouse Inc does
Mission
We change lives and provide hope through consistent delivery of free educational, therapeutic and career development programs for individuals with ds, their families, and the community, through a replicable playhouse model.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
National mission support - provide direct consulting, training, professional services and assistance (fundraising, marketing, programming, governance, etc) to network of 59 playhouses across the united states and mexico, to ensure that programs and services are delivered effectively and consistently nationwide in accordance with mission and goals of the organization. Providing a unified platform for staff and volunteer training, shared technologies, networking opportunities accross all business functions, and a national conference attended by hundreds of staff, volunteers and partners annually.
$1,646,047 spent37% of program spendingOn-site programming - gigi's offers free on-site programming for indivuals with down syndrome of all ages, and their families. From infancy through adulthood, gigi's offers a variety of group classes supporting the development of foundational social, emotional, and physical skills. Individualized tutoring sessions are available to promote speech, literacy, and math. Gigi prep, gigi university, gigi's kitchen, and gigi fit are progressive education programs for young adults focusing on curriculum in self confidence, fitness, nutrition and career skills. After graduating from gigi prep & gigi university and receiving 12 weeks of individualized hands-on career training, gigi's provides an in-house career training program at hugs & mugs, a specialty cafe and retail store run by adult interns with down syndrome.
$1,096,668 spentof which $20,500 as grants$17,292 earned by the program25% of program spendingAwareness - gigi's promotes the celebration, awareness, and acceptance of down syndrome nation-wide through all mediums via the generation g campaign, news segments, virtual & in-person events, printed publications, an annual calendar, branded accessories & apparel, multiple social media outlets, and the "a little something extra" podcast.
$1,436,474 spent32% of program spendingGigi's offers various in-person events, activities and counseling for individuals with down syndrome, families, and their communities to promote awareness and acceptance throughout the year. Gigi's also offers virtual playhouse access, providing critical programming and support online. The virtual playhouse includes videos and live programs that help to create opportunities for individuals with down syndrome and their families to engage with other participants, instructors, and gigi's staff. All programs offered on-site by gigi's playhouse (such as literacy, math, speech, gigi prep, gigi university, gigi fit, lmnop, etc) are made available in a virtual format. Gigi's offers support to research, the down syndrome community, and families in need. Additionally, gigi's provides staff and volunteers with internal and external professional development and networking opportunities.
$255,058 spent6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,434,247.
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 $3.9M to $5.8M (+50%).
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.
103% of GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (51% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 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
Christopher Behrens
Exec board member/CEO(start 9/2024)
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 26 funders, grant income fell $1.1M → $694k.
33 of 78 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 73% 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 GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 78 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
GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 61%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
98% 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 GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 85% · 2018 49% · 2019 49% · 2020 39% · 2021 23% · 2022 15% · 2023 29% — 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 GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC'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
73% of GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE 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 $2.8M that is directly attributable, 55% of it comes from funders outside Illinois, across 17 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 19 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
GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 8,126 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 8,126 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE 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
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
66%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 23 states
Part of a family of 56 related entities
- Gigi's Playhouse - Annapolis LLC · exempt
- Gigi's Playhouse - Atlanta LLC · exempt
- Gigi's Playhouse - Bradley LLC · exempt
- Gigi's Playhouse - Buffalo LLC · exempt
- Gigi's Playhouse - Canton LLC · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE 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 GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC?
- GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC (Illinois) receives grants from 78 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,260,726 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,177,078). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC have?
- IRS filings report 78 organizations giving $10,260,726 in grants to GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC, 39 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $3,177,078 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 78 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