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Maryland · Nonprofit

KABOOM INC

KABOOM INC (Maryland) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,879,366 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($14,035,200). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$22M
Funders on record
138
Grants received
$82M
Net assets
$15M
54/138 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What Kaboom Inc does

Mission

Kaboom!, inc., which we refer to as kaboom!, is the national nonprofit that works to end playspace inequity by uniting with communities to build kid-designed playspaces that can spark joy and foster a sense of belonging for the kids who are often denied opportunities to thrive.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Direct impact offerings - kaboom! Seeks to end playspace inequity by addressing disparities in access to and quality of places to play. Kaboom! Playspaces include playspace projects (playgrounds, multisport courts, and adventure courses) and play everywhere grants, each designed to meet the unique needs and desires of the communities kaboom! Works alongside. See schedule o.

    $20,684,497 spentof which $400,573 as grants$8,207,975 earned by the program
    91% of program spending
  2. Thought leadership - through media opportunities, conference attendance and developing relationships with funders, city leaders, community advocates, and other key stakeholder. Kaboom! Seeks to lead the conversation and drive communications to raise the awareness of playspaces as an equity issue and to educate and inspire stakeholders and communities to take action to ensure kids have the opportunities to thrive. See schedule o.

    $1,970,743 spent$319,695 earned by the program
    9% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $22,655,240.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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.

100 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($27M) Expenses 100 ($27M) Net assets 100 ($18M)2020 Revenue 47 ($12M) Expenses 60 ($16M) Net assets 79 ($14M)2021 Revenue 103 ($27M) Expenses 47 ($12M) Net assets 167 ($29M)2022 Revenue 56 ($15M) Expenses 65 ($18M) Net assets 129 ($23M)2023 Revenue 81 ($21M) Expenses 93 ($25M) Net assets 115 ($20M)2024 Revenue 81 ($22M) Expenses 88 ($24M) Net assets 105 ($18M)2025 Revenue 81 ($22M) Expenses 93 ($25M) Net assets 88 ($15M)
2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue (81)Expenses (93)Net assets (88)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $19M to $34M (+77%).

$22M
$19M
$34M
$34M
$33M
$29M
$25M
2019202020212022202320242025
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2020 13% · 2021 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

56% of KABOOM INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (10% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 330 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

−$288k
’19
−$3.6M
’20
$15M
’21
−$2.8M
’22
−$3.6M
’23
−$2.1M
’24
−$3.6M
’25
0.6
months of
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

Lysa Ratliff

CEO

Board chair

Lynn M Ross

Board chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.

2019202020212022202320242025
Listed17201719161621
Joined·+4+4+3+1+0+6
No longer listed·171401
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 30 funders to 51 funders, grant income rose $6.1M → $9.2M.

31 of 138 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 KABOOM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 138 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

KABOOM INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left

61% 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 KABOOM INC.

17%
largest funder
41%
top three
~13
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 19% · 2019 17% · 2020 22% · 2021 34% · 2022 71% · 2023 25% — 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

30% of KABOOM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 39% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

KABOOM INC draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 27 states in all.

WA
MN
IL
MI
NY
OR
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
DE
AZ
AR
TN
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Maryland out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $25M 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

KABOOM INC's funding base is broadening — from 30 funders to 51 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−17% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve0.6mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)−3% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 164 recreation & sports nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Government funding KABOOM INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $18k on record.

State$18k
22
25
Top programs
  • SCHOOLS OPERATING SUPPLIES$10k
  • ATHLETIC SUPPLIES$9k

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 KABOOM 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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

90% of spending goes to programs.

Program 90%Management 6%Fundraising 4%

Governance

12
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

81%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 30 states

NH
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
KY
WV
VA
MD
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
HI
MS
AL
GA
FL

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Kaboom Play Initiatives LLC · disregarded

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for KABOOM 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.

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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 KABOOM INC?
KABOOM INC (Maryland) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,879,366 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($14,035,200). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does KABOOM INC have?
IRS filings report 138 organizations giving $81,879,366 in grants to KABOOM INC, 54 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of KABOOM INC?
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $14,035,200 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like KABOOM 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.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 138 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