Maryland · Nonprofit
Independence Now Inc
Independence Now Inc (Maryland) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $200,223 to it, the largest being AID ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA C/O ($200,080). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $200k
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Independence Now Inc does
Mission
See Schedule O for DetailsIndependence Now is a Center for Independent Living serving people with disabilities throughout Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, Maryland. Our mission is to empower people with disabilities to live independently, exercise self-determination, and fully participate in community life. Staffed and governed by a majority of people with disabilities, we advance disability rights and inclusion through advocacy, independent living skills training, peer support, information and referral services, transition assistance, assistive technology, youth leadership development, and community-based supports.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
See Schedule O for DetailsDuring fiscal year 2025, Independence Now provided services and supports to 183 consumers with disabilities in Montgomery County and 210 in Prince George's County. A total of 20 cases were closed in Montgomery County, and 18 cases were closed in Prince George's County. The top three services across our service area were Information and Referral (5,802 inquiries handled), Peer counseling (236 consumers), and Independent Living skills training (173 consumers).Independent Living and Community Integration Services:Independence Now delivered information and referral services, independent living skills training, personalized assistance designed to help people with disabilities achieve greater independence and community participation. Services supported individuals in obtaining housing, employment, transportation, healthcare, assistive technology, and community resources.Transition and Supports Planning Services:The organization assisted individuals transitioning from nursing facilities and other institutional settings into community-based living arrangements. Staff provided person-centered planning, resource coordination, housing guidance, and advocacy to help…
$1,331,923 spentof which $47,554 as grants$408,501 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,331,923.
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 2022 to 2023, from $1.3M to $1.5M (+21%).
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 94% · 2018 93% · 2019 94% · 2020 95% · 2021 72% · 2022 74% · 2023 75% · 2024 74% · 2025 69%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
72% of Independence Now Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Diane Palmer
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $20k → $14k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 Independence Now 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
Independence Now Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 100% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 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.
Where its funders are
Independence Now Inc draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 1 state in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $143 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
Independence Now Inc's revenue grew 25% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 431 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Independence Now Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $7.9M on record — $5.6M federal, $2.3M state.
- Department of Health and Human Services$3.3M
- Social Security Administration$2.3M
- Grant$2.3M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Independence Now 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 Independence Now 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 Independence Now Inc?
- Independence Now Inc (Maryland) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $200,223 to it, the largest being AID ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA C/O ($200,080). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Independence Now Inc have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $200,223 in grants to Independence Now Inc, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Independence Now Inc?
- AID ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA C/O is the largest funder on record, with $200,080 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Independence Now Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 Independence Now →
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 2 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