Illinois · Nonprofit
LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY
LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY (Illinois) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,889,258 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($407,990). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.3M
- Funders on record
- 71
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $5.8M
What Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly does
Mission
Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly is committed to relieving isolation and loneliness among older adults. Primarily through our visiting program, social activities, direct service, or vacations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Visiting program: staff and volunteers alleviate the loneliness of isolated older adults by visiting them one on one, in person and on the phone. The older adults and their visitors may do activities together like going out for lunch, working on craft projects, going to a ball game, or just sharing a cup of coffee and talking. They build meaningful friendships that make a difference.
$2,456,755 spentof which $725,000 as grants62% of program spendingSocial activities: lbfe's older adults begin to build connections through social activities, and they have many opportunities to spend time with friends throughout the year. Large parties are held on thanksgiving and christmas day in three locations across the city. Each spring, lbfe hosts the fete d'armand marquiset, a party celebrating the founder. Every month, there is a birthday party so that older adults who are born in that month can celebrate with friends. The lbfe coffee club meets weekly and shares coffee and conversation on thursday mornings. The movie club and creative cafe meet ten times a year to give older adults an opportunity to spend time with peers and share interests. Our lloyd walding brain fitness center provides tutoring and social opportunities to older adults, while teaching them how to connect to peers on the internet.
$867,126 spent22% of program spendingDirect services: while the mission of lbfe is to alleviate isolation and loneliness, we also provide some direct services to the isolated and lonely older adults who are participants in our programs. These services include a monthly food bag program as well as providing limited transportation, one-time emergency assistance, and, for older adults grappling with larger issues, the oversight of a licensed clinical social worker.
$423,340 spent11% of program spendingVacations: little brother's friends of the elderly's (lbfe) provides vacation experiences to combat loneliness by giving our older adults the opportunity to spend a few days or hours outside the city together, building friendships. Lbfe offers vacation experiences from a few hours for older adults who are homebound, day-long getaways for elders who can travel and four day/three night vacations for older adults who are able to travel outside of chicago. Vacations are offered free of charge to participating elders. In the past, vacation experiences have been limited to summer programs. Beginning in fiscal year 2014, lbfe began offering year-round vacations and programs at a dedicated property audrey's house, in batavia, il.
$228,977 spent6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,976,198.
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 2021 to 2022, from $6.2M to $4.9M (−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: 2022 10% · 2023 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 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
Simone Mitchell-Peterson
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Sean Martin
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $110k → $246k.
12 of 71 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 57% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $7.6M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Chicago Friends of the Elderly Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY raised.
From the IRS filings of LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 71 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
LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% 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 LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 32% · 2018 65% · 2019 26% · 2020 30% · 2021 25% · 2022 29% · 2023 22% — 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
31% of LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% 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
57% of LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY'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 $808k that is directly attributable, 77% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY's revenue fell 21% between 2018 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,349 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY
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
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
82%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Chicago Friends of the Elderly Foundation · exempt
- Lbfe Network LLC · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: 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 LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY?
- LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY (Illinois) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,889,258 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($407,990). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY have?
- IRS filings report 71 organizations giving $1,889,258 in grants to LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $407,990 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY 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 FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 71 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