Skip to content

Illinois · Nonprofit

NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY

NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY (Illinois) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,814,370 to it, the largest being NORTHWESTERN IL AREA AGENCY ON AGING ($8,671,035). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$8.3M
Funders on record
5
Grants received
$8.8M
Net assets
$865k
4/5 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 18%
01What it does

What Northwestern Illinois Community Action Agency does

Mission

To diminish the causes and effects of poverty by helping people identify and obtain the resources to achieve stability in order to build stronger families and communities.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Energy assistance: a program to provide utility payments for the low income eligible individuals.

    $2,814,096 spent
    35% of program spending
  2. Senior services: a program to provide meals to individuals over the age of 60.

    $2,275,075 spent
    28% of program spending
  3. Headstart: a child development program for the low income and handicapped children.

    $2,217,328 spent$248,428 earned by the program
    28% of program spending
  4. Weatherization: a program to provide aid to low income homeowners and renters. Expenses 372,970. Including grants of 0. Revenue 0. Service grants: a program to provide economic development within the community. Expenses 193,359. Including grants of 0. Revenue 0. Miscellaneous housing programs to assist the low income. Expenses 120,756. Including grants of 0. Revenue 0.

    $687,085 spent
    9% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,993,584.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($4.8M) Expenses 100 ($4.8M) Net assets 100 ($1.1M)2018 Revenue 115 ($5.5M) Expenses 116 ($5.5M) Net assets 93 ($983k)2019 Revenue 114 ($5.5M) Expenses 116 ($5.5M) Net assets 88 ($933k)2020 Revenue 120 ($5.8M) Expenses 118 ($5.6M) Net assets 99 ($1.0M)2021 Revenue 154 ($7.4M) Expenses 155 ($7.4M) Net assets 99 ($1.0M)2022 Revenue 184 ($8.8M) Expenses 183 ($8.7M) Net assets 108 ($1.1M)2023 Revenue 169 ($8.1M) Expenses 176 ($8.4M) Net assets 84 ($890k)2024 Revenue 173 ($8.3M) Expenses 175 ($8.3M) Net assets 82 ($865k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (173)Expenses (175)Net assets (82)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 2018 to 2019, from $1.6M to $2.3M (+45%).

$1.5M
$1.6M
$2.3M
$2.0M
$2.1M
$1.8M
$2.0M
$1.8M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 84% · 2018 83% · 2019 85% · 2020 91% · 2021 88% · 2022 96% · 2023 96% · 2024 88%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

96% of NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 11,793 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$46k
’17
$3k
’18
−$31k
’19
$139k
’20
$25k
’21
$169k
’22
−$252k
’23
−$25k
’24
0.8
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1716151414161412
Joined·+0+1+0+4+3+3+3
No longer listed·1214155
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $26k → $1.2M.

1 of 5 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 NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY’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

NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 98% 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

100% 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 NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY.

98%
largest funder
100%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 95% · 2018 98% · 2019 97% · 2020 99% · 2021 99% · 2023 99% — 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

100% of NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY's grant income comes from Illinois funders.

IL

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY has grown faster than half of the 11,263 human services nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−0% · below the median
Months of reserve0.8mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)8% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,263 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $15.7M on record.

Federal$15.7M
grants $15.7Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • Department of Health and Human Services$15.7M

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 NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY

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

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

95% of spending goes to programs.

Program 95%Management 5%Fundraising 0%

Governance

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

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

IL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY?
NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY (Illinois) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,814,370 to it, the largest being NORTHWESTERN IL AREA AGENCY ON AGING ($8,671,035). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY have?
IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $8,814,370 in grants to NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY?
NORTHWESTERN IL AREA AGENCY ON AGING is the largest funder on record, with $8,671,035 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY 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 2017–2024), and the filings of 5 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