California · Nonprofit
REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS
REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS (California) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,113,190 to it, the largest being WILLIAM K BOWES JR FOUNDATION ($625,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.0M
- Funders on record
- 52
- Grants received
- $4.1M
- Net assets
- $3.6M
What Real Options for City Kids does
Mission
Rock's mission is to nurture the healthy development of visitacion valley youth by listening to their needs and by providing opportunities to those who might not otherwise have access. This is accomplished by promoting positive development and long-term success of these youth with programs providing opportunities and environments where the children learn to connect by building positive relationships with adults and peers, learn to be productive by engaging in positive learning experiences and learn to navigate through life circumstances by participating in positive, meaningful activities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
R.o.c.k. Provides in-school, after-school, and summer programs at el dorado elementary school. The after-school and summer programs consist of a combination of academic support, recreation, and enrichment, while the in-school program provides for academic, wellness, and enrichment support during the school day. R.o.c.k. Also operates a beacon center at el dorado elementary school with programming directly serving the school as wells as supporting the general community during the weekends, evenings, and summer.I. Number of participants 188ii. Number of volunteers 60iii. Adult to child ratio 1:9
$1,064,919 spent$1,026,584 earned by the program35% of program spendingR.o.c.k. Provides in-school, after-school, and summer programs at visitacion valley middle school. The after-school and summer programs consist of a combination of academic support, recreation, and enrichment, while the in-school program provides for academic, wellness, and enrichment support during the school day. R.o.c.k. Also operates a beacon center at visitacion valley middle school with programming directly serving the school as wells as supporting the general community during the weekends, evenings, and summer. Number of participants 347 number of volunteers 30 adult to child ratio 1:9
$1,010,612 spent$1,039,981 earned by the program33% of program spendingR.o.c.k. Provides in-school, after-school, and summer programs at visitacion valley elementary school. The after-school and summer programs consist of a combination of academic support, recreation, and enrichment, while the in-school program provides for academic, wellness, and enrichment support during the school day. R.o.c.k. Also operates a community school center at visitacion valley elementary school with programming directly serving the school as wells as supporting the general community during the weekends, evenings, and summer. Number of participants 189 number of volunteers 60 adult to child ratio 1:9
$893,391 spent$819,886 earned by the program29% of program spendingRock provides support for students that have graduated from our elementary and middle school programs. For our alumni (those who have graduated from high school) we provide continued 1:1 support and community building.
$90,066 spent$30,103 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,058,988.
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 2019 to 2020, from $1.5M to $2.4M (+57%).
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 81% · 2018 67% · 2019 66% · 2020 47% · 2021 53% · 2022 69% · 2023 71% · 2024 73% · 2025 73%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 25 funders, grant income rose $91k → $507k.
13 of 52 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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 REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 52 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
REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% 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
51% 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 REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 31% · 2019 22% · 2020 25% · 2021 33% · 2022 28% · 2023 25% — 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
57% of REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
90% of REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.9M 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
REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
33%
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 REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS: 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 REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS?
- REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS (California) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,113,190 to it, the largest being WILLIAM K BOWES JR FOUNDATION ($625,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS have?
- IRS filings report 52 organizations giving $4,113,190 in grants to REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS?
- WILLIAM K BOWES JR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $625,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like REAL OPTIONS FOR CITY KIDS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Real Options for City Kids →
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 52 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