California · Nonprofit
IN A PERFECT WORLD
IN A PERFECT WORLD (California) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $557,501 to it, the largest being MAGIC JOHNSON FOUNDATION INC ($105,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $348k
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $558k
- Net assets
- $2.8M
What In a Perfect World does
Mission
We empower young people with the tools, skills, and opportunities they need to succeed and thrive. Iapw programs improve academic outcomes, develop critical life skills, and unlock the potential of youth to lead transformational change.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Youth ambassadors: our youth ambassadors program provides teens with social-emotional & leadership skills, empowering them to find purpose and develop the life-readiness and critical thinking needed to succeed. Teens identify their strengths and passions, equip their leadership toolbox, and become empathetic leaders ready to implement youth-led social impact projects in their communities. In 2023, our youth ambassadors traveled to guatemala to build a school for an indigenous maya community through our reach program. This life-changing experience deepens their cultural competency and understanding of global education issues
$106,940 spent$3,750 earned by the program33% of program spendingThrough reach (rural education and community harmony), we bring schools and resources to rural communities in some of the worlds economically poorest countries, harnessing the power of education to empower all children to have a voice in the world. With 34 schools in 8 different countries, we've provided thousands of children with access to education, helping to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. Working side-by-side with the community, we identify remaining barriers to education for students and work to implement supporting, wraparound services such as clean water, sustainable farming, school meal programs, and solar power. In 2023, with the help of our youth ambassadors, we built our 34th school bringing education to an indigenous mayan community in the highlands of guatemala.
$37,076 spent11% of program spendingDreamcatchers: through the power of art & storytelling, we teach kids ages 5-12 about social issues from hunger & poverty to clean water & climate change, cultivating their natural empathy and empowering them to make a difference. Our signature dreamcatchers initiative, lucia & lunas backpack drive, what started as a 5-year-old's service project has become an award- winning, annual initiative supporting 1,500+ students from low-income families and high-need classrooms in los angeles. Through youth-led fundraising efforts, we have raised over 50,000 for kids in need. In 2023, through new partnerships with the boys and girls club and select charter schools, we brought our dreamcatchers & youth ambassadors programs to hundreds more kids.
$90,137 spent$3,750 earned by the program27% of program spendingLove 4 one another: love 4 one another (l4oa) was established by iapw to honor and build upon the philanthropic work between iapw founder, manuela testolini and music icon, prince. Through l4oa, we harness the power of music, art, and technology to empower young people in under-resourced schools and communities. By providing musical instruments, music therapy interventions, and multimedia tools, we promote well-being and give kids the chance to strengthen their academics and have their voices heard. In 2023, we opened a new music & multimedia lab and teen empowerment center in southeast d.c.. The space hosts our dreamcatchers and youth ambassadors programs and provides access to technology and music for 600 students from one of the most economically disadvantaged and underserved communities in the country. In 2024, we launched goodtech, a forward-thinking program created to empower the next generation of changemakers. In todays fast-paced digital landscape, its more important than ever for young people to stay connected and use their voices for good. Goodtech blends digital literacy, civic engagement, and social-emotional learning into a dynamic curriculum that builds essential…
$94,322 spent29% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $328,475.
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 $3.1M to $2.5M (−19%).
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: 2023 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
64% of IN A PERFECT WORLD’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 2 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.
Board chair
Norman Bailey
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $15k → $146k.
3 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 IN A PERFECT WORLD’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 18 of 19 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
IN A PERFECT WORLD has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
46% 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 IN A PERFECT WORLD.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 65% · 2020 77% · 2021 55% · 2022 40% · 2023 45% — 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 IN A PERFECT WORLD's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 21% 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
80% of IN A PERFECT WORLD's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $92k 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
IN A PERFECT WORLD's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 5 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like IN A PERFECT WORLD
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
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for IN A PERFECT WORLD: 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 IN A PERFECT WORLD?
- IN A PERFECT WORLD (California) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $557,501 to it, the largest being MAGIC JOHNSON FOUNDATION INC ($105,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does IN A PERFECT WORLD have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $557,501 in grants to IN A PERFECT WORLD, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of IN A PERFECT WORLD?
- MAGIC JOHNSON FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $105,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like IN A PERFECT WORLD 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.
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 19 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