Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 658 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,938,049 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($5,000,000). 359 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $83M
- Funders on record
- 658
- Grants received
- $17M
- Net assets
- $123M
What Paralyzed Veterans of America does
Mission
Paralyzed Veterans of America (pva) was founded by a group of world war ii veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders in 1947. Following decades of dedicated advocacy and service for other similarly situated veterans, pva was formally incorporated through a charter granted by the congress of the united states on august 11, 1971. Paralyzed Veterans of America (paralyzed veterans) is the only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated solely to the benefit and representation of veterans with spinal cord injury or disease. For over 75 years, we have ensured that veterans receive the benefits earned through their service to our nation; monitored their care in va spinal cord injury units; and funded research and education in the search for a cure and improved care for individuals with paralysis. As a partner for life, paralyzed veterans also develops training and career services, works to ensure accessibility in public buildings and spaces, provides health and rehabilitation opportunities through sports and recreation and advocates for veterans and all people with disabilities. With more than 70 offices and 33 chapters, paralyzed veterans services veterans,…
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Veterans benefit services:va benefits - each year, our national service officers (nsos) help thousands of veterans and family members obtain the benefits they have earned through their military service or the service of their loved one. In many cases, our nsos are one of the first people at a veteran's bedside after injury, and their first line of contact to getting assistance with health care and benefits' needs.in fy 25, Paralyzed Veterans of America's veterans benefits staff secured $287,156,413 in new annual and retroactive benefits for our clients, including $14,159,176 in payments for automobile grants, $33,840,274 in automobile adaptive equipment payments, $48,025,755 in payments for specially adapted housing (sah) grants and $6,080,748 in annual clothing allowance payments.in fy 25, we filed 27,581 new issues/claims and secured 1,875 "significant retroactive awards" (over $100,000). We conducted 6,368 hospital and office interviews and had over 147,610 client contacts during the year.veterans career program [formerly pave] - Paralyzed Veterans of America's veterans career program provides career assistance and vocational rehabilitation support to transitioning service…
$21,969,958 spentof which $5,228,373 as grants$215,864 earned by the program45% of program spendingPublic education and awareness:Paralyzed Veterans of America engages and educates both the public and key decision makers about the challenges facing veterans with spinal cord injury and their families - and the important services we provide to these brave heroes which allow them and their families to lead full and productive lives. Whether it's a janitor whose dad served in vietnam, the doctor who's thinking about specializing in spinal cord injury medicine, or the student who has no veterans in her family, our print and e-publications are designed to get them all to think about the challenges facing paralyzed and disabled veterans - and the make helping veterans part of their life's mission. For example, through our clinical practice guidelines and companion consumer guides - on issues as diverse as the early acute management of adults with spinal cord injury to bladder management - we lead the way in providing "gold standard" professional education and self-help information to health care professionals and patients alike. Last year alone, our guidelines were used by thousands of doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and therapists, potentially helping millions of…
$15,816,422 spentof which $2,500 as grants$159,332 earned by the program33% of program spendingLegislation and advocacy:advocacy - Paralyzed Veterans of America's government relations program focuses on policy priorities that affect veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders. Through our efforts, we improve the lives of veterans with catastrophic disabilities and all people with disabilities.the legislative staff primarily focus on policy priorities under the purview of the department of veterans affairs (va) and the house and senate veterans' affairs committees. Legislative staff work on protecting va's specialized health care services, increasing access to long-term services and supports for veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders, improving veterans' financial security, and enhancing access to health care services for veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders.the advocacy staff focus on efforts to improve the lives of our members as people with disabilities. Advocacy staff work to defend the freedoms of veterans with disabilities, including supporting increased tax incentives to help businesses comply with disability rights laws and opposing any efforts to weaken compliance. Staff also continue to seek improvements in air travel for people with…
$4,417,124 spent9% of program spendingResearch, consumer and professional education:Paralyzed Veterans of America supports research and educational programs, and other initiatives that unite people and activities toward a single mission: improved quality of life for individuals living with spinal cord injuries and disorders (sci/d), and diseases like multiple sclerosis (ms) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als). In 2025, working with expert researchers and clinicians from across the us and canada, pva continues to develop new clinical practice guidelines (cpg) on management of secondary health conditions after sci/d. These are in addition to our present cadre of cpgs, companion consumer guides and our selfcare manual yes, you can! These are disseminated nationally and worldwide to educate clinicians in order to improve care and treatment of veterans and others living with sci/d. In 2025 we continue to develop new resources for our veterans and their families. Pva research and education staff manage the pva research foundation, dedicated to funding research to find a cure for spinal cord injury. In fy26 the foundation awarded $1.1m in new spinal cord injury research grants in the areas of basic science, clinical…
$2,873,741 spentof which $840,550 as grants6% of program spendingSports and recreation:Paralyzed Veterans of America (pva) offers a diverse range of adaptive sports and recreation opportunities for paralyzed veterans and other individuals with disabilities. Our programs include paracycling, bass fishing, billiards, bowling, rugby, shooting sports, our annual national veterans wheelchair games, and more. These activities empower participants to showcase their abilities, engage with both disabled and non-disabled peers, and connect with others who share similar challenges.pva's sports and recreation programs challenge stereotypes, increase public awareness, and promote inclusivity, contributing to a more welcoming and equitable society for people living with disabilities.
$3,252,426 spentof which $88,706 as grants$109,350 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $48,329,671.
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 $75M to $100M (+33%).
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.
89% of PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (7% for the typical peer).
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
William Blake
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Robert Thomas
National president, chairman of bod
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 168 funders to 210 funders, grant income rose $570k → $3.1M.
50 of 658 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% 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: $24M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Jeffrey Carlton Charitable Foundation); $140k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Mid-South chapter of paralyzed veterans of America). These are real filings, and they are not money PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA raised.
From the IRS filings of PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 658 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
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 30% of grant income and the top three 59%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
47% 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 PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 20% · 2018 30% · 2019 22% · 2020 17% · 2021 22% · 2022 43% · 2023 65% — 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
34% of PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 43 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 25 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
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA's funding base is broadening — from 168 funders to 210 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,969 health nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.8M on record — $2.8M federal, $2k state.
- Department of Veterans Affairs$2.8M
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $2k
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 PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
59% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 28 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Pva Spinal Cord Research Foundation · exempt
- Pva Spinal Cord Injury Education and Training Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA: 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 PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA?
- PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 658 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,938,049 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($5,000,000). 359 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA have?
- IRS filings report 658 organizations giving $16,938,049 in grants to PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA, 359 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $5,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 658 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