Missouri · Nonprofit
OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION (Missouri) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,281,121 to it, the largest being DAYTON FOUNDATION DEPOSITORY ($183,950). 37 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
- $2.8M
- Funders on record
- 64
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $11M
What Optimist International Foundation does
Mission
The Optimist International Foundation, incorporated in february 1971, is a foundation and charitable corporation established for the general purpose of soliciting and receiving gifts, donations and bequests of money and property to be used for the furtherance of the charitable and educational efforts and activities of optimist international. The foundation also acts as a custodian and investment manager for various funds that have been donated to or accumulated by optimist international clubs. The foundation supports optimist international programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Charitable, literary, and educational programs, which include grants to exempt organizations to assist with publication costs for magazines and articles (which are distributed to the organization's constituents), seminars and training for members of other exempt organizations, grant writing program, international initiatives and matching grants.
$595,471 spentof which $309,502 as grants40% of program spendingOratorical contest scholarships: an annual speech competition with over 5,700 entrants. Scholarships are awarded in district level contests in the united states. Total expenses for the year ended september 30, 2025 amounted to $246,500, all of which were scholarships.
$241,500 spentof which $241,500 as grants16% of program spendingClub grant programs: grants for member clubs utilized for charitable, literary and educational programs at the direction of the foundation in conjunction with support from the member clubs.
$382,124 spentof which $382,124 as grants26% of program spendingYouth club programs: scholarships to support youth club programs and activities. Total expenses for the year ended september 30, 2025 amounted to $135,000, all of which were scholarships made to individuals living inside the united states. Essay contest scholarships program: an annual competition for high school students with approximately 2,558 entrants. Scholarships are awarded to individuals living in the united states. Total expenses for the year ended september 30, 2025 amounted to $92,500, all of which were scholarships.communications contest for the deaf and hard of hearing scholarships program (ccdhh): a program that awards scholarships to district winners. Scholarships are awarded to each individual winner and are payable upon receipt of the correct paperwork from an institution of higher learning. Total expenses for the year ended september 30, 2025 amounted to $32,500, all of which were scholarships made to individuals.
$259,996 spentof which $259,996 as grants18% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,479,091.
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.
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 $11M to $14M (+25%).
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.
67% of OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Craig Boring
Secretary/ executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 24 funders, grant income rose $72k → $290k.
22 of 64 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: $95k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Optimist International). These are real filings, and they are not money OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 64 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
OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
62% 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 OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 37% · 2018 41% · 2019 22% · 2020 18% · 2021 15% · 2022 12% · 2023 34% — 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
26% of OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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 OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION'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 $555k that is directly attributable, 90% of it comes from funders outside Missouri, across 18 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $726k arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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
OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
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 Missouri
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
62%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Perpetual Trust · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: 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 OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION?
- OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION (Missouri) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,281,121 to it, the largest being DAYTON FOUNDATION DEPOSITORY ($183,950). 37 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 OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 64 organizations giving $1,281,121 in grants to OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION, 37 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION?
- DAYTON FOUNDATION DEPOSITORY is the largest funder on record, with $183,950 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. 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 64 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