Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC
OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,335,076 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,225,000). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.5M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $3.3M
- Net assets
- $2.6M
What Operation Better Block Inc does
Mission
We strategize, organize and mobilize, block by block, to benefit the homewood community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Group violence intervention initiative - operation better blocks group violence intervention program uses digital tools to connect individuals to resources quickly, capture information about recipients that can be immediately used by case workers to provide assistance and support to individuals likely to become involved in violence, who are at risk of incarceration and those who are re-entering society after incarceration. Bridging the gap between service providers, trusted advisor and the people needing help, leveraging the effectiveness of street outreach work.
$1,057,717 spent57% of program spendingResident services initiatives - provides motivation, finances and neighborhood activities for residents to improve housing and develop new housing. Performs periodic surveys on community needs and changes. Assists in planning for new improvements in the community. Assists neighborhood residents who experience problems affecting aspects of social functioning, and transmits the communitys concerns to public and private decision makers, assuring that all voices are heard before commitments affecting the community are made.
$445,354 spent24% of program spendingGreen initiatives (junior green corps) - the primary objective of the junior green corps is to provide homewood youth, ages 14-19, with structured activities that impact their physical environment, equip them for leadership roles in the community, and provide them with an opportunity to explore green collar jobs and careers. The junior green corps program targets youth who face economic, educational, or personal barriers such as deficiencies in basic literacy skills, parenthood, and minor legal issues. Through strategic partnerships with other organizations, we provide our youth with access to the green industry.
$222,677 spent12% of program spendingCommunity development activities - obb participated in the development of homewood comprehensive pla. Obb created/developed the land use plan that is in the homewood comprehensive plan.
$129,895 spent7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,855,643.
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.
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 $2.7M to $4.2M (+60%).
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: 2017 3% · 2021 19% · 2022 14% · 2023 39% · 2024 65% · 2025 66%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 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
Jay Gilmer
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $131k → $25k.
3 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% 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 OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC’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
OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 57% · 2018 100% · 2019 79% · 2020 33% · 2021 60% · 2022 55% · 2023 60% — 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.
How long its funders stay
8% of OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
91% of OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $307k 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.
Organizations like OPERATION BETTER BLOCK 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
74%
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 OPERATION BETTER BLOCK 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.
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 OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC?
- OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,335,076 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,225,000). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $3,335,076 in grants to OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC?
- RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,225,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OPERATION BETTER BLOCK INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 19 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