Illinois · Nonprofit
GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC
GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC (Illinois) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $666,556 to it, the largest being NFL FOUNDATION INC ($325,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $387k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $667k
- Net assets
- $388k
What Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund Inc does
Mission
The mission of gridiron greats assistance fund, inc. (ggaf) is to assist retired nfl players in dire need who were pioneers of the game and have greatly contributed to the nfl's status as the most popular sport in america.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Player assistance grants are made on behalf of retired national football league players and their immediate families for medical, shelter, or other basic needs who are indigent, in poverty, or have medical needs beyond their ability to pay. In most instances, payments are made directly to service providers or vendors to cover costs that have been incurred by players who have met established guidelines for medical costs, housing, food, shelter, and other basic needs that qualify under ggaf's policies. Ggaf is only able to provide emergency funding on a temporary basis. Accordingly, ggaf works with players to attempt to locate long-term solutions to their needs. Ggaf also attempts to raise awareness of the significant needs of the many retired national football league players who are struggling financially due to injuries incurred while playing in the league. By raising awareness with the nfl, nfl players association, current players, and the public, ggaf hopes a long-term solution for these players can be established.
$229,765 spentof which $105,175 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $229,765.
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 2017 to 2018, from $235k to $105k (−55%).
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: 2020 6% · 2021 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
126% of GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (91% 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
Karen Wright
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $10k → $1k.
4 of 11 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 GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC’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
GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
83% 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 GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 45% · 2020 92% · 2021 100% · 2022 97% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
14% of GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 27% 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
GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 7 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $166k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 21,616 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 21,616 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND 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
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 4 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND 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 GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC?
- GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC (Illinois) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $666,556 to it, the largest being NFL FOUNDATION INC ($325,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $666,556 in grants to GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND INC?
- NFL FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $325,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GRIDIRON GREATS ASSISTANCE FUND 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 Gridiron Greats Assistance →
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 11 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