California · Nonprofit
SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND
SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND (California) receives grants from 87 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,688,963 to it, the largest being THE PETERFFY FOUNDATION INC ($1,550,000). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 87
- Grants received
- $7.7M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What Sky's the Limit Fund does
Mission
Our mission is to make wilderness therapy, and nature-based therapy programs affordable to families of adolescents and young adults struggling with acute mental health conditions, regardless of their socioeconomic status. We believe in the transformative power of the outdoors to foster connections, build resilience, and support mental health.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Effective march 28,2025, stlf entered into a merger agreement with saving teens in crisis collaborative, inc., whereby stlf was the surviving entity. The merger was accounted for as an acquisition. The two nonprofits merged to combine their resources and expertise to further their mission. By joining together under one organization, they aim to be stronger and more effective than operating separately. Saving teens in crisis collaborative, inc. Ceased operations at the time of the merger. No significant changes to stlf operations or to stlf program services in fy25.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Financial assistance for wilderness therapy and therapeutic nature-based programs.during fiscal year 2025 (july 1, 2024 - june 30, 2025), Sky's the Limit Fund provided $1,015,693 in financial assistance to 133 adolescents and young adults experiencing acute mental health crises, enabling access to wilderness therapy and therapeutic nature-based treatment programs. These programs serve youth ages 11 and older whose needs are often unmet by traditional outpatient interventions.with the average cost of treatment exceeding $60,000, financial barriers prevent many families from obtaining critical care. Stlf bridges this gap through donor-funded grants and partnerships with 13 therapeutic programs that provide additional fee reductions. In fy25, families received an average total savings of approximately 33% through combined support.since its founding in 2010, stlf has awarded more than $9.5 million in direct assistance to over 1,700 youth. Including partner program discounts, total financial support to families exceeds $16 million. In fy25, stlf received 549 inquiries for assistance, reflecting continued and growing demand for services addressing serious mental health conditions among…
$1,471,463 spentof which $1,052,032 as grants100% of program spendingSky's the Limit Fund coaching servicein fy2025, stlf provided $60,377 in coaching support to 46 adolescents and young adults and their families.each family that receives financial assistance from Sky's the Limit Fund is also eligible to apply for our coaching service free of charge. Stlf provides up to 12 hours of coaching support for adolescents, young adults, and their family members as participants transition from a wilderness therapy or nature-based therapeutic program back into their home and social environment. This service is led by master-level therapists who have years of experience in wilderness therapy, transitional support care, and traditional therapeutic care with youth and their families.since its launch in 2016, the stlf coaching service has supported nearly 400 adolescents and young adults, along with their families.Sky's the Limit Fund's coaching service helps strengthen family relationships by reinforcing and building on the skills developed during the nature-based therapeutic experience. This transitional support after program completion plays a critical role in sustaining long-term growth and success.stlf conducts a follow up survey with each family that…
During fy25, Sky's the Limit Fund partnered with 13 wilderness therapy and nature-based therapeutic programs located across the united states. Program partners are selected through a formal review and vetting process to ensure alignment with the organization's mission and adherence to established standards of care. Partner programs are required to maintain appropriate licensure and accreditation, demonstrate accountability and transparency, implement safety protocols, and provide family support services. In addition, partner programs are expected to track and report participant outcomes to support ongoing evaluation and program effectiveness.the organization collaborates with program partners to increase awareness and support fundraising efforts. Partners include references to Sky's the Limit Fund on their websites and share organizational communications, including fundraising campaigns, with their alumni networks. A substantial portion of the organization's revenue is derived from individual contributions.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,471,463.
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 $978k to $1.7M (+70%).
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: 2020 2% · 2021 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (81% 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
Mary Davidson
Executive director
Board chair
Ty Bemis
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 33 funders, grant income rose $392k → $1.3M.
22 of 87 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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 SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 87 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
SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
56% 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 SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 44% · 2019 21% · 2020 44% · 2021 36% · 2022 25% · 2023 28% — 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
38% of SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
54% of SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND'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 $3.6M that is directly attributable, 89% of it comes from funders outside California, across 23 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND has grown faster than half of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND
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
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
59%
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 SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND: 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 SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND?
- SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND (California) receives grants from 87 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,688,963 to it, the largest being THE PETERFFY FOUNDATION INC ($1,550,000). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND have?
- IRS filings report 87 organizations giving $7,688,963 in grants to SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND, 49 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND?
- THE PETERFFY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,550,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SKY'S THE LIMIT FUND 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.
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 87 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