Ohio · Nonprofit
Level Up Cincinnati
Level Up Cincinnati (Ohio) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $882,016 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($456,500). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $620k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $882k
- Net assets
- $605k
What Level Up Cincinnati does
Mission
LUC's mission is to empower underserved students, particularly first-gen students from low-income families, to thrive in education and professional careers. The program addresses critical challenges faced by these students, such as higher dropout rates and limited access to resources. LUC's holistic approach cultivates personal and professional growth, nurturing leaders who strengthen the Cincinnati community and contribute to a more prosperous future.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Level Up Cincinnati Scholarship Fund - Level Up Cincinnati provides scholarships to first-generation, PELL eligible college students. Level Up Cincinnati funds the University of Cincinnati Scholarship Foundation, which manages the scholarship and selects students for the program. Scholarships for 2026 were funded in December of 2025.
$354,883 spentof which $200,000 as grants92% of program spendingStudents who participate in Level Up Cincinnati, enroll in a four-year program. During which, they are paired with two coaches. Their first coach, a Transition Coach, is a former first-generation student that helps with the transition from high school to college. The curriculum during this time is focused on college readiness, time management skills, self-evaluation, and choosing a career path. The student's second coach, a Career Coach, is assigned before their junior year of college. As most students have identified and solidified their major or areas of interest at this time, they are paired with a coach in their field of study. Coaches are tasked with aiding in the transition from college to career, sharing their network, experience in the industry, and connecting students to the business community. The curriculum during this phase is focused on professional development, financial literacy, networking skills and mental wellness.
$23,903 spent6% of program spendingLevel Up Cincinnati provides training and support to its Coaches / Mentors. Coaches are exposed to mentorship training and courses to help them improve their mentorship skills and ensure their success with their student match. Along with orientation, coaches participate in monthly check-ins and semester gatherings to further their mentorship skills and education.
$7,189 spent2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $385,975.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2024 to 2025, from $425k to $605k (+42%).
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.
99% of Level Up Cincinnati’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 4 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
Jim Rodarte
Executive Director
Board chair
Michael Rodarte
Chairman of the Board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $75k → $215k.
4 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 69% 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 Level Up Cincinnati’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
Level Up Cincinnati leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
71% 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 Level Up Cincinnati.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 33% · 2023 47% — 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
69% of Level Up Cincinnati'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 $274k that is directly attributable, 91% of it comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $608k 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
Level Up Cincinnati runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 17,450 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,450 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like Level Up Cincinnati
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Level Up Cincinnati: 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 Level Up Cincinnati?
- Level Up Cincinnati (Ohio) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $882,016 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($456,500). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Level Up Cincinnati have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $882,016 in grants to Level Up Cincinnati, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Level Up Cincinnati?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $456,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Level Up Cincinnati find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 2022–2025), and the filings of 12 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing