Illinois · Nonprofit
LANTERN NETWORK
LANTERN NETWORK (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $821,250 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($473,750). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $821k
- Net assets
- $896k
What Lantern Network does
Mission
To catalyze business and benevolence into a movement to help a depressed city thrive in all aspects of life.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
In addition to the past year's activities, Lantern network has developed youth sports and mentoring programs that have furthered the reach of our works in the city.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
To be an incubator for "good works" in Alton, IL and the surrounding riverbend area. "Good works" include business incubator, residential and commercial property redevelopment, neighborhood spiritual and social communities, personal and professional life coaching, and social entrepreneurship. This program includes the Post Commons, Idle Roasting, Soul Craft Makers, Ri Beag Refuge, Mission Support, Central house, community development and benevolent activities, and general organization efforts which are all serving the organization mission and scope of activities.
$728,559 spent$794,214 earned by the program86% of program spendingThis program supports Brave Cities which is a fiscal sponsor of Lantern Network. The mission of Brave Cities as working with Lantern Network is to locate, train, and equip pioneer leaders to build Kingdom ecosystems wishing existing cities to launch entrepreneurial startups, establish justice works, provide sustainability amount the impoverished, and to help the city thrive in all aspects of life.
$121,059 spent$124,323 earned by the program14% of program spendingDo not have a third program
$0 spent0% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $849,618.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2020 to 2021, from $605k to $1.0M (+70%).
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.
27% of LANTERN NETWORK’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2021: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income rose $65k → $430k.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 60% 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 LANTERN NETWORK’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
LANTERN NETWORK leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% 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
60% 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 LANTERN NETWORK.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 77% · 2019 100% · 2021 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
60% of LANTERN NETWORK'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 $327k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $495k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
LANTERN NETWORK runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,394 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,394 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like LANTERN NETWORK
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
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 LANTERN NETWORK: 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 LANTERN NETWORK?
- LANTERN NETWORK (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $821,250 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($473,750). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does LANTERN NETWORK have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $821,250 in grants to LANTERN NETWORK, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LANTERN NETWORK?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $473,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LANTERN NETWORK 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 2018–2024), and the filings of 4 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